


Scars of Duty

by Kirabaros



Series: Scars of Duty [1]
Category: Call of Duty (Video Games), Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-04 23:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 66,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14030790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirabaros/pseuds/Kirabaros
Summary: It was her job to know things, find out what the enemy was doing; chasing leads where none existed. Plunged into a SAS unit, operative Nicolette Walker works to keep the world from falling into disaster, trying to clear the names of those responsible for saving the world beginning with Al-Asad and Zakhaev. Part one of the series.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Call of Duty characters except for Nicolette Walker.
> 
> The intro to this story and is subsequent parts are inspired in part by the entrance of Dragon Age II.

The room was dark. The only light was from the center of the room. It encircled a table and chair and that chair had one occupant sitting with their head resting on their arms, face down. David Said looked at the occupant through the glass mirror with a bland expression. From the looks of things, the occupant of the chair had been through this before; there was no instance of panic or questioning about where they were. Then again operatives were trained for interrogation.

“So are we gonna do this or not?”

Said looked at his partner, Pope, and tried to dispel the fact that he thought his ass wipe was too gung-ho to be involved in the interrogation of a Shadow Protocol operative. He had heard rumors himself but his superiors thought him to be the best. He replied, “ _I’m_ going to do this. You’re going to observe. Come on.”

Said opened the door and walked into the interrogation room. His entrance as well as Pope’s barely caused a stir from the… was prisoner the right word? The only thing the occupant said was, “Another round for the senior management.”

Said took in the occupant who hadn’t bothered to lift their head. In fact it looked like he was going to be ignored for his pains as he took the seat opposite of the prisoner. He put the file on the table, ready to use it when necessary. He replied, “Why don’t we just have a conversation first?”

“Because that is not what you are after,” the prisoner said, still not lifting their head. “Tell me something: are you here for the truth or are you going to waste my time?”

“And what is it that you think is the truth? Because we have what is here from 2011 with Zakhaev all the way through with Makarov and the incident at the Moscow airport that led to invasion and war. We have that we were betrayed.” Said studied the prisoner and watched as their fingers tapped on the table.

“Betrayed? That is a convenient word to throw around when it suits someone expendable.” The prisoner lifted their head to reveal a set of hazel green eyes and auburn hair drawn back. It was easy to see that it was shoulder length and fairly thick. Her skin was creamy but tanned and no doubt from her work in the field.

Said took in her appearance. He had only known her by a protocol number and didn’t even know the gender until he heard her voice. The voice was now put with a face and he was surprised by it. He didn’t let it show as he looked at her. He asked, “So you think you were betrayed?”

“One could look at it that way. Depends on what you are looking for.”

“Murdered general, rogue operatives… How could that not be betrayal?”

“You have your reports. You don’t need me to tell you what you already know.”

Said was interested and countered, “So why not tell me what I don’t know?”

The prisoner looked at him with a look that was unusual. She replied, “I know plenty and then some. Like I said, it depends on what you are interested in. Do you have an open mind?”

“Pretty hard to have one when information is coming from an operative in league with wanted terrorists,” Said replied, hoping to get a rise out of the prisoner.

“What terrorists?” The prisoner looked at Said. “Like I said, convenient to throw around when one is expendable.”

Pope was getting impatient and interrupted by slamming his palm on the table and demanded, “Enough. Tell us where your partners are!”

The prisoner looked at Pope with a bemused expression, “Oh the bad cop. Try that on someone else. I spent time in a gulag.” She looked back at Said and asked him, “Is this what you’re relegated to Said? Teaching ass wipes how to ‘break’ someone like me?”

Pope was getting angry and would have said something had Said not stopped him. He motioned for Pope to leave followed with a warning to go. He waited until Pope left the room before resuming, “Senior management wants to know what happened.”

“I know that Said. They wouldn’t have sent you if they didn’t.” The prisoner folded her arms and leaned back to look up at the ceiling. “You know, I came in willingly but a dead general with an impeccable record is easier to believe than someone who is trained to deal in lies and information. So I don’t feel like talking right now.”

“You’ve been here for two days. We can keep you indefinitely.”

“I know that. Like I said, depends on the open mind… if there is one.”

Said looked away and thought. The file said it all but he had questions. He had been an interrogator and was considered the best but he was also an investigator. He had read the reports but he wasn’t satisfied with it. In truth, _he_ wanted to know more and he got the feeling that was why this operative was asking the questions the way she was and her refusal to talk. He said, “Look, I don’t think you’re anything like what I found.”

“I don’t even exist.”

“Fine. What I meant was that the people you were with… I don’t think they are what they are made out to be. I want to know more.”

The prisoner sat forward to inspect Said. He was well aware that they were both scrutinizing each other to look for the lies and the truth. “And what is it that you think that I could give you Said?”

“The truth,” Said replied. “You have nothing to lose since you walked through the front door. Last reports were that they are dead. I want to know your side.”

The prisoner took in Said’s expression. No doubt she knew him well as an interrogator. She had mentioned him by name. Said hoped that she would see the earnest desire to know the truth in his eyes. She asked, “Why?”

“Because you are the missing piece.”

“No.”

“Don’t you want your story told?”

“Level with me, Said. Your responses are laced with truth but they do hold the company line in there.”

Said sighed as he looked at her and thought that she should be the interrogator, not him. He had to admire her persistence and to a degree understood where she was coming from. He replied, “I think… I think that there is more to what is in the reports. I don’t believe that your friends would ever betray what they stood for.”

“Many think we did and I don’t even exist. What do you hope to gain?”

“What do you hope gain? You were the one that came in of your own free will,” Said pointed out.

The prisoner smiled and nodded, “Touché, Said. However I think we both know that what I have to say will be disregarded.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

The prisoner nodded in agreement and replied, “You are well respected Said. The interrogators of the gulags envy you. But there is still a chance.”

“Possibility but this is your chance. Tell me everything you know,” Said replied. He leaned forward to look the prisoner in the eye.

“Aren’t you worried that I would make it up as I go? I am a liar by trade.”

Said shrugged his shoulders and countered with, “Why would you lie? You claim to have the truth. I want to hear it.”

The prisoner smiled as she put her elbows on the table. She propped her chin on her hands and looked at Said. “Then you will need to hear the whole story.”

Said nodded and pulled out a tape recorder. He wanted a complete record of everything. “Then tell me your story.”

“It is not just mine but that of who served…”

_My name is Nicolette Walker and I am operative S64 under the Shadow Protocol. As an operative my job was to employ back channels and stave off disaster. It was the same thing that the members of Task Force 141, now disavowed, did. I didn’t find them… they found me and together we fought to rid the world of those that would see our way of life destroyed._

_It is said that 141 turned traitor; that Captains Price and MacTavish were killers and terrorists and they betrayed everything they stood for. In truth… we were the ones that were betrayed and called loose ends. They say that history is written by the victor. We were overshadowed by the victor but we still lived, still fought. The world was after us but in the end, we did what had always been our objective: to secure the world against the terrorists; the dark side of any nation. This is what the 141 did and this is our story…_

**Call of Duty: Scars of Duty**

The city was rapidly deteriorating as Nicolette predicted. Khaled Al-Asad had taken over the country in a coup de etat in an effort to restore the nation to the glory it once had under its old monarchy. They had said that it wouldn’t happen but she had insisted and that was based on the Intel she had collected and exchanged with contacts in the region. She had seen the signs and that was from her analysis of the region as well as global analysis.

It wasn’t a coincidence that the civil war in Russia was going on the same time the coup in the Middle East. She saw it as a strategically organized movement for something big. What it was, she wasn’t sure but at the moment she was certain that an alliance had been made. The Ultranationalist party of Russia’s party line was similar to that of Al-Asad; the west was an evil influence that must be eliminated. If anything they were the two prime candidates for an alliance united by the same ideals and it would be a win-win.

In Russia it was a fight over a fairly strong nuclear program and if the Ultranationalists had someone like Al-Asad, they had powerful financial backing. Al-Asad would have one of the greatest weapons in the world to hurl at his greatest enemy. Definitely they would unite. The problem is that there was no face and name to the Ultranationalist party as far as she could find and she went through the source most wouldn’t think. She followed the money.

When she joined the Company she was brought in as an analyst. Basically she was someone to stay behind a desk and analyze whatever she was given. Unfortunately when she spent her time at the farm, she impressed someone and she was made a field operative. Having read Tom Clancy novels growing up, she had a laugh at her situation but took to it surprisingly well. The orders were simple and that was to gain Intel, analyze it and send it in; in short report from the front lines.

It worked out well and then she was given the task of watching Al-Asad. That was her doing since she was the one that pointed out that he was rapidly gaining support and power with the military and the ultraconservative part of the population. She was scoffed at since the higher up analysts disagreed stating that Al-Asad didn’t have the support he needed to take over the nation. It put her at a standoff until she received the call from SP001. She had already been working but the order was given as a means of stating that she was to do what she had to do. Unfortunately she was on her own and that was not a good thing.

Sitting in the chair she was tied to she looked at the television of the events going on. Al-Asad was going on about the evils of the west and that the president had catered to that. In effect he was destroying their culture and way of life. The west was full of evils and… blah… blah.

Nicolette blinked as she watched, listening. She could speak and understand Arabic having taken the intensive language courses to supplement her knowledge of several other languages. She needed it when she did what she did on this assignment. She watched until the unit was turned off and she looked up at the one who was looking at her as he turned it off. She blinked at him and took in his smug face but didn’t say a word.

“So… what do you have to say?”

Nicolette looked at the television that had been turned off and then at her interrogator. The only other person in the room was the guard and he had some firepower on him. She was tied to the chair by her wrists and upper arms. They didn’t tie her legs but then again they probably didn’t expect much out of her and in their minds, they had the gun and it was trained on her.

She had been captured trying to send important info to her contact in Russia. He was to get it to his friends and hopefully stave off disaster before the worst came to pass. They were Russian; that much was obvious and given the nature of things, they were with the Ultranationalists. It was only further proof that her predictions were correct and she was right smack in the middle of it.

It seemed that her captor was expecting an answer. He had asked her in English in a thick accent. She replied in Russian, “Seems that things are going well.” It had been uttered in sarcasm since this was what she had wanted to avoid.

The backhand was expected for that and her captor said, “Of course they are well. We persevered in spite of your efforts.”

“I really don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Don’t lie, bitch. You were caught sending information to the enemy. In our eyes you are a traitor.” He paced a little bit as he glanced at her. “You sent information about an important shipment that is needed for the cause.”

“Again that is something I don’t know,” Nicolette replied in Russian. She looked up at her captor. She was sporting a split lip and the beginnings of a few nasty bruises on her face. She had been a virtual pain in the ass but she wasn’t going to give up secrets like that. “I was sending crucial financial information per request from…”

“That is a lie. You accessed restricted files.”

Nicolette looked at her captor and then his guard. She couldn’t see the face but the stature was clear. She knew what she did but that didn’t mean that she had to admit it. As she had been told when she first had been selected, if the enemy ever found out what she actually did, then they had failed.

_You are the best we have._

_But I’m just an analyst, sir_

_And more than that._

“Who is your contact? Who did you give the files to?”

Nicolette blinked as she looked at her captor. Her lip twitched while trying to moisten her mouth and she could feel the cut on her lip. She didn’t have to glance at her wrists to know that they were red and would probably be rubbed raw. It was only going to get worse from there on out.

_Remember your prime directive S64. No one must know. If the enemy ever knows what your mission is… then we have failed. We cannot fail the world…_

Nicolette narrowed her eyes as she looked up at her captor. Taking a slow breath, she replied, “Nen.”

A hard punch came across her face and then her head was pulled back roughly by her hair. She blinked at the light in her face and then her captor’s face got into hers. He looked pissed but it was going to take a lot more than that to break her. He said, “Tell me who your contact is!”

“Nen,” she repeated. It was one of the first words she had learned in Russian. She figured that most kids learned that as their first word. It was just a natural thing. She gave a slight grin and repeated, “Nen.”

The slap stung and she had her eyes closed to absorb the pain of it. “Tell me now!”

Nicolette opened her eyes but her head was down. She felt her head yanked back since she wasn’t fast enough to look up. Her captor looked at her. His lips were curled in a sneer and his expression looked like one of bloody murder. “Tell us and maybe we’ll let you live.”

Nicolette said nothing to that. If she told, she would die. If she didn’t, she would die anyway. She knew too much about what went on. They had some proof that she was dealing in information but no anything concrete. Still it didn’t take much for her to be in the position she was in now. She could only hope that her contact on the other side wasn’t compromised. He needed to get what she had to his friends. It was accurate.

“Hmm… perhaps the incentive isn’t enough for you.”

Nicolette blinked as she kept her mouth shut. She heard her captor say something in Russian to the guard. She turned to watch as the guard opened the door and made a motion. It was hard not to blink or react when she saw who the dragged into the room.

“Now that we have company,” her captive said. He pulled out his gun and it looked like a .45 and pointed it at a downward angle pressed to the other prisoner’s collar bone. “Tell me who did you send the information to and your friend lives.”

Nicolette blinked as she saw the look on the prisoner’s face and she felt a pang of regret. He had been brought in since she needed a firm contact in the city. He was fluent in Arabic enough to pass for a local and was well aware of local customs. He was an operative like she was and in the beginning they tried to use each other until they both realized they were working on the same goal. He became a friend besides an asset and she felt sorry that he had been dragged into this.

“Don’t tell him anything,” he said in Arabic. “Don’t tell him.”

Nicolette couldn’t help but jump when he got hit on the back of the head with the butt of the gun. She chewed on her bottom lip to keep from crying out. She looked at their captive when he stopped and he said, “Tell me.”

Nicolette looked at her friend and replied in Arabic, “Malik. You alright?”

Malik looked at her while grimacing from the pain. He was retrained like she was and couldn’t help her like he did to get her in with the right people. They helped each other out and it was a pretty good partnership. He knew she had her secrets like he had his. That was their world. It took much for them to trust each other and it was always who was willing to give a little for the other. He replied in Arabic, “Never better little bird.”

“Alright. Enough. Now talk.”

Nicolette looked at their captor and then at Malik. She muttered in Arabic, “Seems the mouse is caught.”

Malik nodded, “Yes but the mouse is clever.”

Nicolette nodded at that. She looked at their captor and said, “Nen.”

The blow to the back of Malik’s head followed by a slap to her face and she was shouted at, “Tell me who your contact is or he dies.”

Malik knew the end was coming either way. Besides he knew deep down that he wasn’t going to survive this. His little bird though was a different story even though he thought her to be a bit… He watched as Nicolette got hit across the face multiple times. He shouted, “Stop!”

Their captor did stop and turned to look at him and asked, “Are you going to tell me who it is?”

Malik looked defiantly at their captor and replied, “Na’am.”

The result was a backhand and his head was grabbed but his hair and the muzzle of the gun thrust underneath the chin. Malik didn’t listen to what was being said since he didn’t understand or speak Russian. Instead he was looking at Nicolette who was looking at him with a pensive expression. He muttered in Arabic, “There is nothing to be gain for one who hasn’t earned it.”

Their captive looked at Malik and then moved so that he faced Nicolette while still holding onto Malik. He said, “Last chance. Tell me about your contact or your friend dies.”

Nicolette stared at their captor. Her expression was blank but inside she was going through a myriad of scenarios and thoughts about what to do. It was chaotic as she mentally played out her moves in the precision she saw tactical formations but nothing was coming together. It was broken when Malik said in Arabic, “Little Bird… If they know, then we have failed.”

Nicolette blinked as she heard the words clearly from Malik and glanced at him. He gave a slight nod to indicate that it would be all right. She could do this. Taking a breath, she firmly looked up at their captor. She saw the reassuring look on Malik’s face and that he was resigned to his fate. She then said in Russian, “Ian Moone… I Am No One.”

The bang that followed along with the slumping of a body falling over, told her everything. She looked to see Malik dead on the ground. Her heart was pounding and she could feel it thud almost out of control in her chest. Her breathing was controlled as she looked up at their captor. It would do no good to get indignant over the whole thing. What was done was done.

“You sacrifice your friend’s life to protect your secret?”

Nicolette said nothing. She knew what she had done and she didn’t have to like it. It was her job but it was one of the things that sucked about it. What had her attention now was the way her captor was looking at her. Her instincts warned her that something had changed and she knew she wasn’t going to like it given the way he touched her face and his fingers gently stroked the side of her neck…

****

“So you were captured when this began?”

Nicolette looked at Said as she played with her fingers. “It is for this story. You already know that it started with the tensions in the Middle East.”

Said took in her expression and her playing with her fingers. “So you predicted that Al-Asad and Zakhaev would unite? That’s…”

“Hard to believe I know but it is the story. I was caught because I uncovered crucial evidence about a cargo ship that had been lost in the Bering Strait.” Nicolette looked at Said with a firm look to indicate she wasn’t kidding. “I think it was sheer luck that it was successfully retrieved even though the package wasn’t. Things then happened.”

Said looked at Nicolette back with a firm look. He couldn’t say that he didn’t believe her but it didn’t mean that he did. Yet there were things that she seemed to know that could only come from firsthand knowledge though he still wasn’t sure about the Shadow Protocol. It didn’t exist in any Company programs but… Something about the way she said the things she said… He looked at her and said, “Alright. Continue.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Have the Americans already attacked Al-Asad?”

“No their invasion begins in a few hours,” Captain Price of the 22nd SAS replied. “Why?”

“The Americans are making a mistake. They will never take Al-Asad alive.” Nikolai paused a moment and then added, “Something must have gone wrong.”

Price looked at Nikolai as he said that but didn’t say anything. He figured it had something to do with what he had found or some other information. He was well aware of the need to have connections with people in the places you needed to gain access to. He asked, “Anything?”

Nikolai looked at Price and said, “I had hoped my contact would have made it to the Americans to warn them.”

It was the price to pay in terms of getting information back and forth. Sometimes is ended in the death of the one who was trying to get the information out. Price knew that score but he couldn’t help but feel bad. As he had said, “We take care of our friends,” and while this contact wasn’t a friend like Nikolai, they deserved the same courtesy if possible.

Mulling onto other thoughts, Price looked at his FNG, fresh out of Selection and with a ridiculous call sign in his opinion. The man was a baby compared to the other members of his team but he looked ready to prove himself and so far had shown himself able to do so and it was appreciative that the FNG named Soap was good with explosives. He watched as his FNG looked out the doors of the chopper and kept an eye out. They were away from the shite they had gotten through and it wasn’t necessary. However, Price could appreciate the fact that the FNG was still alert even though he was giving it away.

Sgt. John “Soap” MacTavish was well aware that he was being scrutinized by his superior and other teammates. He was the FNG and they were waiting to see if he was going to be any good or a screw up. It didn’t matter about the course even though he was good and managed to match Gaz’s score; proving yourself on a course was one thing, proving in the field was another and he was in the hot seat for it despite the fact that he had already been on one mission before this with the team. It was the way things were. Trust had to be earned.

Rescuing the informant codenamed Nikolai was just another walk in the park so to speak and MacTavish did his best. They got the informant and they were heading to a safe house but it seemed that there was something they might have missed given the way that Price and Nikolai were talking. Something about an informant that was supposed to warn the Americans and it seemed that whoever it was didn’t make it.

_We’ve got Nikolai. We’re taking him to the safe house in Hamburg. ETA 0700 hours. Out._

MacTavish glanced over at Gaz who was the lieutenant for the team and Price’s right hand man as he relayed their ETA to Command. It was going to be a long flight and they were still in Russian airspace. He had listened to the news reports about the conflict between the two parties in Russia and had seen it up close when they went on their missions. It had him look out the doors and his muscles tensed almost as if he knew someone or something was going to happen.

He wasn’t too far off with that. He spotted something in the air and called, “Sir,” and pointed.

Price turned away from Nikolai and looked in the direction his FNG was pointing in. Once he saw it, he called out, “Incoming missile! Hang on!”

MacTavish watched as the missile came and struck on his side of the chopper and looked like from underneath. It was a good hit and they were going down and it looked like they were going down hard. He looked over to see the others grab onto something and grabbed onto what he needed. The spinning was enough to make the toughest man sick. He hated flat spins.

The chopper continued its descent and it was evident that it was going to land hard. MacTavish held on until the chopper hit the dirt. He found himself being flung around and he collided with something hard. The last thing he saw was black and he was out.

It was still dark outside as MacTavish slowly opened his eyes. His head hurt and he closed his eyes but he needed to get his bearings and get up. He managed to turn and open his eyes again and found Price running towards him. The next thing he knew he was being hauled to his feet and the captain saying, “You’re still in one piece. Get up. Come on. We need to get moving before the search parties get here.”

MacTavish shook off the pain and pulled out his side arm and followed Price to meet up with the rest of the team. He kept an eye out for any signs of search parties. He managed to find a G36C rifle on the ground and picked it up. He had ammo in his pockets still so he was good even though the man he took it from was dead but there was nothing they could do about it now.

Price turned to Gaz, “Casualty report.”

“Paulsen and both pilots are dead sir,” Gaz reported as he looked up from his inspection.

Price couldn’t help it, “Bugger.” He still had three other people to worry about so it was time to get a move on. “Alright, the extraction point’s not far from here. Let’s move out.”

MacTavish checked his policed weapon and locked and loaded. He took up the rear to cover the flank. He took stock of the burning chopper noting that it would have caught someone’s attention. For a fleeting moment he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was going to happen on the way to the extraction point. He couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

_Bravo Six, this is Baseplate. AC-130 gunship support is on the way, but it will take some time before they will be in a position to assist, over._

“Copy,” Price replied, “Bravo Six out.”

“An AC-130 eh? Haven’t worked with one of those in a while,” Gaz piped up. His tone sounded like he was getting a treat in this case.

MacTavish followed, pulling up the rear and looking for any sign that someone not a friendly was nearby. He pulled up just as one of the team said, “Sir, vehicles coming from the north.”

“Get under that bridge- move it,” Price ordered.

It was a good thing they got under it when they did. A search chopper came and shone its light right over where they had landed. Had they been out in the open, they would have been caught and probably shot on sight. It wasn’t a pretty way to go in this case.

“Alright, let’s move,” Price said.

The nearest set of buildings appeared to be a farmhouse and barn. It looked abandoned to MacTavish but that didn’t mean that the enemy wasn’t around. Sure enough Price spotted two of them through the house. Slowly he led the way in and MacTavish followed, covering Price’s back. As it turned out it was a group of three tormenting and old man.

“All right, let’s top these bastards before they kill the old man,” Price murmured as he took aim and fired.

There were quite a bit of them and the team was forced to take cover. MacTavish went upstairs to take out one that was hiding behind some barrels. He looked around until Gaz gave the all clear and followed Nikolai down. As he entered the road, MacTavish noticed something about one of the bodies and took a closer look. No one had thrown a knife as far as he knew though he could be mistaken and it wasn’t like it mattered since they were all dead and needed to move.

He brought up the rear until something caught his attention. MacTavish looked over trying to see if they were being followed. He poked through the brush and something rushed out and tackled him and he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. His reaction was to strike back and brought his elbow up and made contact and heard a grunt. It allowed him to flip his assailant over his head and get to his feet and get a good look… sort of.

MacTavish could throw a punch and he wouldn’t have made it out of Selection if he hadn’t been able to fight hand to hand but it was like he was too slow. He found himself on his back and his attacker on top of him and while he used his rifle to push back, it was no good against the fact that his attacker had a knife to his throat. He looked up to see the dirty face of a woman who looked like she had fallen into a dirt pile or sewer or something. There was a look to her eyes as she looked down on him… like she was prepared to kill and she certainly was with the knife she was holding.

“Alright hold up your hands,” Gaz said followed by the click of his gun.

MacTavish didn’t move though it was tempting to do so. She still had the knife to his neck and Gaz was pointing the business end of his weapon at her. He watched as she surveyed the situation and while it looked like she wasn’t going to do anything, it was a sudden relief when she moved her knife away and flipped it to hand it over and he blinked at that. He got to his feet while she backed away slowly with her hands raised.

“What’s the holdup here?” Price’s voice came in clear as he emerged to take stock of the situation.

“This one got the drop on us,” Gaz replied while pointing his weapon at her. “Engaged and almost used this.” He held out the knife to Price.

Price took the knife and looked at it. There was dried blood on it. He looked at their prisoner and gave a quick inspection. “Well you don’t look like ultranationalist. What are you?” He narrowed his eyes while waiting for her answer.

“Intel,” she replied, “American.”

Price looked at her but it was Nikolai who said, “What are you doing here?”

“You know this one?” Price gestured at the woman.

“Da. The one who gave me the info. It was the last thing before being compromised. I recognize the voice.”

“So I guess I’m not the only one,” the woman said still holding her hands up. She looked at the group and added, “I’m the American contact to the ultranationalist insider. I’ve been tracking the movements of the Middle East and the civil war in Russia.”

“Pretty big order,” Price replied.

“Not so when you figure out what’s going on,” she replied. “I just sent information about a package on board a ship in the Bering Strait and was about to contact my people when I was taken prisoner. The usual: interrogation and I escaped.”

“More like let go,” one of the surviving team muttered.

Price though was thoughtful. He looked at the woman with a piercing glance, “So you escaped?”

“Yes,” she replied with certainty. “Sometimes those bastards forget there is more than one way to untie a knot.” She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders.

Price said nothing but held out his hand towards Gaz. The knife was put into it and he looked at it. He looked at the woman and then at the knife again. He flipped it so he was holding it by the blade and held it out to her. “Nice work back there.”

“I dislike bullies.”

“I’m sure you do.” Price watched as she slipped the knife expertly into the belt at her waist. He was impressed at how well she had handled herself. She did manage to get the drop on one of his men even though he was a FNG. It was enough for him to be curious about who she was. “You got a name Yank?”

“Walker. Nicolette Walker.”

Price mused at that after introducing himself and wondered what it was meeting new people with funny names. He kept that to himself. He glanced at Nikolai who gave him the signal that this one was okay to trust so he was going to give a little but it had to be earned. “Can you shoot?”

Nicolette looked at Price, well aware that her ambushing one of his men hadn’t done her favors but it was pretty much a free for all if she was going to survive. She was surprised that she had been able to escape so easily… like it was some divine intervention that had that knife there on the ground where she had fallen in her chair and had been left to flounder like a fish. She cut herself free and got out with some difficulty and found herself in western Russia. She had made the plan to make her way towards a friendly village and call in but chance seemed to be on her side running into them.

Seeing that Price was waiting, she replied, “Yes.”

Price made a humming noise and said, “Soap giver your sidearm.”

Nicolette blinked as the one she had tackled grudgingly handed over his pistol. She took it and inspected it and expertly locked and loaded. It should say enough for now but she could tell that the one called Soap was none too pleased he was giving up his sidearm and figured that he might be an FNG. She recalled when her brother complained about it. It didn’t sit too well with either of them when Price ordered Soap to ‘guard the package’. She managed to keep from moaning since she understood Price's position.

MacTavish felt like the world might end. First he gave up his sidearm to the girl who pretty much kicked his ass and now he was to babysit her. He understood the implication though. Until it was verified she wasn’t one of the ultranationalist and their allies, she had to be watched. He didn’t like though that she was being given a little more leeway than he might like but he wasn’t going to question orders. It seemed that his charge didn’t like it either but she wasn’t going to say anything. This was certainly going to be fun… in hell.

Price glanced at the two and finding no arguments gave the order to move out. MacTavish held up his weapon and motioned for Nicolette to go first. He followed her as they made a dash through the nearby field towards another farm. They were about midway through when another search helicopter came into view and Price told everyone to get down and wait it out.

Nicolette did as she was told since she didn’t want to be captured again as she pressed herself next to a rolled up bale held her borrowed pistol out in front of her. Next to her was her escort and he focused on the searchlight that was moving along the ground. She muttered, “Well this is fun.”

“It is if you want your ass to get seen,” MacTavish replied.

Nicolette raised her brow as she glanced at the man. The Scottish accent was a surprise since the others had that proper Queen’s accent. She retorted in a whisper, “Looks like the Scotty is angry.”

MacTavish made a slight snort at that before saying, “And the Yank is a pain in the ass.”

“And he has bite,” Nicolette replied as she got to her feet when the chopper passed. She held her weapon ready to go and followed while she twitched her lip at the man who was grumbling at her.

“Contact six o’clock,” Gaz called.

It was instinct for MacTavish to reach out and grab Nicolette to stop her from advancing so she could get down. He didn’t expect her to stop, turn and punch him hard in the arm and had a dangerous look in her eye as she hissed, “Don’t do that.”

“Fine,” he murmured as he found the contact. “Just find cover.”

Nicolette would have said something but she turned her focus onto returning fire. She had a pistol and while she could shoot at a distance, she wasn’t sure if she could hit anything but there was the option of drawing fire. A glance at her escort told her that he might not like that so she turned to pick a target and aimed and fired until she noticed movement to the right.

Staying low she made her way to the right flank passing Price who was telling one named Gaz to open the basement doors of the house they were trying to take cover in. She found who she was looking for and aimed and fired. There were a few and she took a stance and fired. She heard a pop and looked around to find her escort pointing his rifle to something behind her. She grinned, “Nice shooting.”

MacTavish wasn’t in the mood to be cute. He had been returning fire when the girl got up and started moving. He followed thinking that she had lost it or something until he saw her shooting a few tangos that were coming up on their flank. It was appreciative but not to the point where he was running through live fire to chase after her. It never occurred to him that she was behaving much like any other member of the team would since at the moment he just wasn’t happy with the situation at all. He just glared at Nicolette and turned when Gaz said that the door was opened and was even ready to grab her to push her in. He muttered, “Bloody damn Yank.”

“Scottish bastard,” Nicolette muttered in reply.

There was no time to argue since Price was shouting for everyone to get inside. Nicolette followed MacTavish and thought she caught Price smirking at them but there wasn’t time to think about it. She almost did an about face when Price told her ‘body guard’ to take point and scout for an exit. It had to be an FNG thing going on here and it did speak to confidence regarding her… at least on some level.

It wasn’t expected of her to follow but she did. Certainly MacTavish didn’t expect it. He did as he was told, assuming that she would stay with the others where there was more cover. He made his way up the stairs to the first floor slowly and checking his corners. It was clear and he didn’t hear anything through the house. The rest of the team would follow…

It was rather sudden when he was pushed forward onto the ground just as the glass shattered in the window and the round hit the wall about the height of MacTavish’s torso. It was returned with several pops from his sidearm. He looked up to see Nicolette pointing his sidearm out the window firing until the clip was empty. She ducked when they fired again and released the empty clip. She looked at him and asked, “Got a clip?”

MacTavish pulled out a clip and handed it over before crouching up to fire out the window. By that time the rest of the team was in the house getting to vantage points to fire back. Nicolette was crouched loading her weapon and she peered over the edge to take a look at what was going on outside and the surrounding area while listening to what was going on outside. She held her gun but didn’t fire but rather looked around.

MacTavish looked down and noticed Nicolette was just staring and was about to get her head blown off. He muttered something and brought his rifle up and fired at the guy who was aiming at her head. “You do know that they are firing at us don’t you?” He looked at her like she was crazy.

Nicolette shook her head and gave a slight glare at MacTavish. She adjusted her position and replied, “Here I was thinking that they came over to say hi.”

“Then what was that?”

He didn’t get an answer. When MacTavish looked back down, Nicolette wasn’t there and he looked around. A thousand curses wanted to trip off his tongue but he had to put his focus on the fire being exchanged and clearing a path to an exit so they could keep moving to the extraction point. All he knew was that he was sure to get it when this was over from Price. And he sure as hell was not going to be allowed to say that she wandered off on her own. Price made it clear that she was his responsibility and it was virtually his fault if anything happened to her.

The lack of fire on his side had him look. He knew that he hadn’t hit anything out there so he peered down his sights. What he saw had him blink in surprise and he muttered a few curses. His Scottish accent became thicker as he aimed at stragglers to provide support while his wayward charge maneuvered her way through a bunch of armed ultranationalists armed with a pistol and a knife.

It certainly attracted attention, drawing out other tangos and the others were able to take them out. MacTavish kept his eye on Nicolette though as she moved and while annoyed that she snuck out like that, he was impressed by her moves. She used her environment as well as her own abilities to take out the tangos. That is until she disappeared from his sight and he was forced to head towards the exit to look for her.

Nicolette studied the situation and probably a little longer than she needed to but she was mentally taking into account the darkness, as well as the placement of everything in the area. She also knew that the chopper was around. Less distraction was needed on the ground. It wasn’t easy since her Scottish escort was annoyed with her and she wasn’t helping the situation since she gave back anything he sent her way. The sad thing was that she found it fun annoying him.

It was no effort to go all the way to the main floor of the house and pick a window that was in a blind spot for their attackers. Still she checked and slowly pulled her body out and climbed down to the ground. It was payback being a bitch as she snuck through, using the cover outside to ease closer until she was within range. From there it was all speed and timing as she took out the knife and held her pistol ready.

She caught the ones on the side of the house and took them out with precision, using their bodies as shields when necessary and occasionally her pistol. The stragglers at the side were easily taken out. The hard part was trying to clear a path and not get hit by enemy fire. She managed to cut a path by picking off the ones that were at the rear and made her way towards the front of the house. She was close enough to hear someone shout that there was a flash bang and the explosion came. It made her rush in since those annoying things were designed to stun and allowed for easy pickings.

She took out the ones by the door by the time the team came out and looked like she was just waiting for them. The first one out was MacTavish and she teased, “Where have you been?”

MacTavish merely scowled at her while they followed the rest of the team. He almost wanted to cuss at her when she stopped to pick up a weapon, probably an AK and some ammo. The last thing he wanted was for her to handle something with more firepower. He said nothing though and they continued on, not liking the quiet as was commented by Wallace.

“They’ll regroup and try to cut us off… probably with something a little more nasty,” Nicolette replied. She looked at the men who were looking at her and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s logical and tactically smart.”

They trudged their way forward, meeting more firepower from the search parties. MacTavish kept his priority close by, covering her as she fired back. She could shoot, that he could admit. And she was fearless especially when she yanked one of their dogs off him and scolded it. MacTavish blinked as the dog slunk away whining. He paid her back by throwing back a grenade that had been launched in her direction saying, “Bloody Yank.”

“Scottish bastard.”


	3. Chapter 3

The helicopter was becoming a problem. As they pressed forward the thing kept coming back and they were taking fire. The brief flickers of light indicated the bullets were flying. MacTavish was crouched next to the barn while the bullets were flying and chips of stone and wall were flying. He was actually pinned down while trying to take out the tango that was rooted in a high point in the barn. He was damned lucky that their aim was so bad with the grenades.

Nicolette was nearby next to Nikolai and looking around. The high spot was a good vantage point and he could cut them down if he wasn’t taken out. It seemed though that he was focusing on the Scottish bastard she was having fun with and he wasn’t alone. Price and the others were trying to get a clear shot but they couldn’t. Sighing, she looked around and found something that might help.

“It would help if you fired your weapon,” Nikolai was saying.

“Just looking for a shot,” Nicolette replied. She adjusted the AK around her shoulder and checked to make sure that she had her knife and the pistol. “I think I can take them both out.”

“How? We’re shooting and not even close,” Nikolai replied.

“Sometimes you don’t need to shoot,” Nicolette replied as she studied the scene and readied herself. “Just keep firing and draw their attention. I’ll get up there.”

“Not a wise decision.”

“If we do nothing what’s his name will get mowed down,” Nicolette countered. She looked at Russian informant and said, “I know what I’m doing. It’s how I escaped.”

Nikolai wasn’t so sure. The whole thing at the house was luck. This was risky. There was too much open ground and what she was looking at, it appeared she wanted to scale the walls. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Any other ideas?”

The fire was getting worse as it concentrated on MacTavish’s location. Nikolai stole a glance and could tell that the American spy was right. How she could tell that, he wasn’t sure. She didn’t carry herself like a soldier or anyone who had training. Still she had a point. He looked at her and nodded, “Da. Alright but if you get hit, I am telling Price it was your idea. You too.”

“Da,” Nicolette replied. She readied herself and when she saw a chance, she took it.

_Thank God all those hours spent on resistance and speed paid off._

She found her entrance and climbed in through the hole. She looked around for stairs and took them up, remembering to check her corners just in case. She found the two hiding and thought about her options. It was one of the major ticks off her overall scores at the farm because she had to stop and analyze everything. It paid off though as she went in favor of her knife and pistol. She snuck up behind and knifed one and shot the other. She couldn’t help but grin down at MacTavish when he peeked over his cover. The man may have orders but she wasn’t going to be a doormat for them.

Meanwhile Gaz inspected the barn and called through his radio, “Sir we got stinger missiles in the barn.”

That was a good thing since the helicopter was coming back. Nicolette took the opportunity to get down but through a shortcut. It was tempting and she couldn’t help it as she leapt off the platform and grabbed the beam that was across and below. She knew she was going to have splinters but it reminded her of days before all this shit. She swung her body forward and released to land on the ground, her hand in a ready position to pull out her weapon.

“Nice,” Nikolai commented.

“Thanks.”

At that moment MacTavish was aiming at the helicopter to take it out with the stingers they found. First one had been a miss since the bastard used flares. The second time though was a hit and the chopper was down. He barely heard the compliment from Price but he heard it from his charge. He would have retorted but it had been uttered in a genuine fashion. He had nothing to say to that and motioned that they were to follow the captain.

It was a relief to hear that the AC-130 was in their airspace. That meant that they didn’t have to use so much ammo. MacTavish looked at Nicolette who was looking at her hand and she was picking at it. What the hell did she do? “What’s wrong?”

“Splinter. No big deal,” Nicolette replied as she pulled it out and tossed it aside like it was nothing. “Just couldn’t resist,” she added, not caring if he understood what she meant or not. She turned her attention to the front as Price relayed his directions to the AC-130.

MacTavish bit back the retort that was on his tongue. He noticed that where she had been picking started to bleed. Great. Another tick against him. Sighing he pulled out a bandanna he had tucked in and handed it over. “Put that on,” he said, “Padding.”

Nicolette had guessed that already, “Really? I thought you were saying something about my face. I know it’s dirty.” She accepted it and wrapped it around her hand.

MacTavish said nothing since he was certain to start a shouting match with this and it would give away their position. He did notice that her wrists looked like shit. They had been rubbed raw with ligature marks, indicative of being held prisoner. It was a start but it by no means raised his opinion of her at the moment.

The fire from the AC-130 caught their attention as it took out the obstacle on the road towards the extraction point. MacTavish kept his weapon at the ready while Gaz couldn’t help but whoop at the sight. The path was clear and the AC-130 was going to clear the path the rest of the way. MacTavish started forward but noticed that Nicolette was holding back. What the hell now? He turned towards her, “We gotta go.”

“They won’t see me,” she replied. She clarified, “Strobes. I don’t have any.”

That was a problem. The crew on the AC-130 would be able to identify friendlies with the infrared strobes. It was solved by Price tossing one back, “Lucky for you I’ve got a spare. Now get a move on it before I shoot you myself.”

“Old fart,” she muttered under her breath but a grin was on her face.

MacTavish was stunned she even said that. It was a good thing that Price didn’t hear that. Then again he seemed to be amused by everything she had done. Either way it was better that he didn’t hear that and gave a push for her to get moving. “Come on.”

“Try to keep up, Scotty.”

“Soap.”

“What?”

“The name is Soap.” MacTavish gave a quick glance as they jogged up the road with the others. He had to make this clear.

“Fine… Scotty.”

MacTavish rolled his eyes as he jogged beside her. He knew she was doing that on purpose. If he wasn’t careful, the rest of the team would pick up on it. He turned his attention towards the path they were taking. Thanks to the AC-130 they didn’t have too many tangos to shoot. One did come a bit too close and instinctively he jumped in front of Nicolette.

It was all right since no one was hurt even though Price muttered something that sounded like a curse and they reached the main highway. Perhaps it was sheer luck that there were two civilian vehicles coming down it. They would cut down on their travel time considerably so Price called in that they were commandeering the vehicles.

With a little help from Nikolai and Nicolette, they were able to commandeer the two vehicles and be on their way. They couldn’t let up though since there was always the chance that there was someone ready to shoot. MacTavish looked out the window and then glanced over to see Nicolette squashed between him and Wallace. Inwardly he chuckled since she looked very uncomfortable and annoyed at the seating arrangement.

The real fire came when they went up the curved road away from the highway. MacTavish aimed out the window and returned fire, pausing only when the fire from the AC-130 hit. He only took a moment to glance over at Nicolette who seemed to be staring at everything like she was in awe of it or something; like she had never been in a serious firefight before. There was no other way to describe it and it didn’t matter at the moment to MacTavish since they had enemy fire to worry about. Besides once they got out of the vehicles, she jumped right back into the fray.

The junkyard was a perfect place to ambush them. It became like a personal explosion pen with the AC-130 firing on enemy fire and the buildings taking the hits. Nicolette took in the sights with a calm expression as she fired at the enemy pushing forward behind MacTavish. The dirt nearby exploded sending debris flying and she pressed her body against the wall. She peered around the corner as Price called for assistance after they reached the LZ. There was enemy fire on all sides. Great.

Looking in a different direction she was surprised one had made it in close and he was aiming at the one that stopped her from killing the babysitter. Pulling out her pistol, she aimed and fired. The only sign that he was hit was the jerk from the impact. She gave a slight nod and put her pistol back and pulled up the AK she commandeered. She hated the thing but it had more firepower than a pistol. The upside was that it seemed to annoy MacTavish or Soap more and she found that better and nice The LZ was cleared out as good as it was going to get and the choppers were coming in. It looked like it was going to be a good morning so to speak. Nicolette was aware of relief that she was going to get out of that hell hole or the place near the hell hole she had been in. The relief wasn’t going to last since they had to move and she went on the signal given by MacTavish.

MacTavish had seen the shot she had taken to save Gaz from a bullet. He was surprised she even made that shot since she was holding a pistol. Then again he noticed she was better shooting a pistol than a rifle even though she was good enough with both. At least she was not dead weight.

When they were given the order to move out, he tapped her on the shoulder. At least she didn’t try to hit him this time and she seemed to mellow out over that… sort of. They raced towards the air craft, firing to clear the path. He pointed where she was to sit and she said, “Don’t boss me.”

“Don’t make me.”

It was not a good time to be arguing but MacTavish couldn’t help it. He glared at her as she adjusted her seat while giving a smug look. He just glared as he sat across from her and waited for the others to get in. Just seven more hours and he was done babysitting her.

****

“Are you all right?” Nikolai looked at Nicolette since she was looking like she was passed out. He had sat next to her when they got on and had waited to ask his question. It was hardly the time to do so during their run to the LZ and it seemed that she was arguing a lot with the one called Soap and seemed to enjoy it.

Nicolette looked up from her attempts to get her mind to rest a bit and replied, “Sorry?”

“You all right?” Nikolai prompted. He said something in Russian.

Nicolette twitched her lip in a slight smile and responded to his comment in Russian. In English she said, “I’m fine.” She glanced over at MacTavish who trying hard not to look like he was listening to everything that she was saying. She would humor him for now. She looked back at Nikolai and said, “About as well as you huh?”

Nikolai chuckled at that. Being a prisoner was no laughing matter but sometimes you needed to lighten up if you were going to make it through. He looked at her and she was grinning and said, “You have humor like a Russian.”

“And I drink like one,” she teased back.

“I would like to see that.” Nikolai then said something only for her ears.

Nicolette blinked at that but she was grinning at that. She said, “Da. But I am a lightweight and a good loser.”

Nikolai laughed at that. He had been impressed by her and liked her. “There is a good loser?”

“All the time,” Nicolette replied giving a smile as she adjusted her position. She crossed her arms over her chest and tucked her head down. She rotated her shoulders and murmured, “Cargo planes are more comfortable and they have no seats.”

Nikolai chuckled having heard that. He glanced at everyone else. No doubt they were all curious about her. Price though was indifferent but that was Price. MacTavish though was the one that made him want to laugh throughout the whole thing. He hadn’t failed to notice that the young soldier did as he was told and how he would get exasperated when she did what she had to do to help the team when they were making their way through; what any of them would do. It annoyed the young soldier and she knew it. Nikolai knew that it was going to be interesting with her around. It seemed that his friend Price might be thinking the same thing.

Nicolette was not aware of those thoughts and she didn’t care to know at the moment. The adrenaline was dying down and everything that happened was starting to hit in terms of reality. Now that she was physically slowing down she was now reliving that hell hole after Malik was executed. She shivered as she remembered the hand that touched her face, the slaps and the backhands and the punches…

The last punch had knocked her chair over and she was left there on her side. They left her that way… except for the guard. She remembered the guard holding a canteen of water for her and he muttered something but she could make out ‘little bird’ in Russian or something like that. After that she felt the knife by her hands and she got free. Her only regret was that her tormentor got away. She would have liked to have stabbed him or shot him like he did Malik.

It was not the most comfortable position to be in but it was comfortable enough. It allowed Nicolette to mull over what happened and then make plans of what to do when they got to wherever they were going. There was no need to impose on these men. Besides she would be given another assignment since her position was more or less compromised unless she went back to her day job before all this. Highly unlikely so she expected next case scenario.

It was a long trip and it seemed that it was going to be endured in silence except for Price talking to Gaz about whatever and occasionally Nikolai when necessary. Nicolette kept to herself. She was used to the lonely and long hours. Even her occasional conversations with Malik had been stilted. In fact the most fun she ever had was antagonizing the soldier Price ordered to babysit her. Taking a moment to shift her position, she managed to get into a position to observe him without being called on it.

The only name she knew him by was Soap and it was obvious that it was his call sign. However she thought it rather strange that it was his call sign. She had little idea that Price had similar thoughts when he heard the name. Aside from the name, he pretty much was the physique of the soldiers that were well trained in their jobs. He was buff and muscular and in good physical shape; nothing to get excited about. Average really but the two things that stood out were one, he was a Scotsman and she could easily push his buttons and two, he had nice blue eyes, an unusual color for what she was assuming was a dark haired person.

The latter thought was merely an observation though she could hear Gavin teasing her about it. She hadn’t thought about her friend, if he could be called that, from logistics in a while and it had her think about him and what he would say at a moment like this.

_It was lunch and the rare opportunity for her and Gavin to meet and just talk about nothing. They were eating a diner that was frequented by other coworkers and members of other government agencies. Gavin was talking about rumors of a new program that was in the works. Nicolette reminded him that they weren’t supposed to talk about shop. Gavin laughed, “Kind of hard to Walker. Especially since there are rumors of a global task force of spies.”_

_“Like that is going to happen considering that they are trying to learn our secrets while we learn theirs,” Nicolette replied as she took a sip of her coffee. “And those that do want to keep the back channels open to stave off disaster but even then… we suspect everybody.”_

_“You are such a ray of sunshine,” Gavin smirked. “Got anything else?”_

_“No shop talk.”_

_Gavin laughed at her considering that she was watching the news on the TV in the diner. That was one of the reasons aside from it being fairly cheap that government employees came in here. He watched as she watched the news about something political going on in some country that more likely wasn’t in his sector. “Yeah right. You’re watching it.”_

_Nicolette looked at Gavin and then at the screen, motioning towards it, “That is very important whether it is shop or not.”_

_“It’s just the usual people not happy with what the government is doing. Same old story.”_

_Nicolette looked at Gavin with a slightly annoyed look and said, “That is not the same old story. It may be little problems in Russia but give or take a few years, the movement against the government will gain enough momentum and may be a potential threat.”_

_“Seeing doomsday again.”_

_“Maybe,” she admitted, “But if the opposition had sufficient support, we could be looking at civil war and a civil war in Russia is bad for the rest of the world.”_

_“Give it a rest Walker. I’m sure they know it back at the office. No need to make waves.”_

_Nicolette sighed and went back to her lunch and speared her salad with little enthusiasm. Gavin noticed her mood and said, “Aw come on Walker. You know they listen but there are more than just you they have to consider.”_

_“I know. I’m the FNG.”_

_“What?”_

_“Nothing. Something Kyle told me about when he joined his unit,” Nicolette said. She glanced at the television that was now switched to some talk show. She made a sound, “That girl is a bitch.”_

_Gavin looked to see what she was looking at. He looked at Nicolette and replied, “Seriously? How do you know that? You don’t know her.”_

_“It’s in the eyes.” Nicolette went back to her salad deciding to ignore the television and instead focus on food._

_“Don’t bullshit me.”_

_“I am but statistically speaking a nice set of eyes usually indicates a good person… more or less.”_

_“Right. Use that on the guy that catches your eye. He’ll probably be a bullhead guy with blue eyes.” Gavin smirked at her as she shot his a look. “Oh and he’ll be a soldier too. You get along with them better than others.”_

_“Shut up.”_

Nicolette stared downward at her feet stretched out as she remembered that. It was just a coincidence that Gavin made that observation and her babysitter just happened to be part of that observation; just coincidence. She shrugged it off. It was just messing around then since they both were trying not to talk shop then. She adjusted her shoulders not caring that MacTavish was watching her and continued to do so the rest of the trip.

It was a rather long and silent flight to the safe house, which was in Hamburg, Germany. It was a relief to finally set down and an indicator for MacTavish that he would be relieved of his ‘assignment’. It was far from over since they had to unload and debrief. He was one of the last to disembark since he waited for their extra passenger.

Nicolette stood up and stretched like she had taken a refreshing nap. She twisted her lower back and adjusted the AK she still had and started to leave. She paused when she realized that MacTavish was waiting and said, “Don’t wait on my account.”

“I’m not. You’re the one that needs to be watched,” MacTavish replied as he stood to wait. He hoped she would get a move on since Price would more likely bellow at him to pick up the pace. “Come on.”

“That a request or an order?”

“Just go.”

Nicolette made a slight scoffing sound under her breath. She muttered as she passed, “I just knew Scotsmen had no sense of humor.”

“And Yanks are annoying like you.” MacTavish fell in step behind Nicolette as they followed the rest of the squad. He almost ran into her when she paused in front of the infirmary where Nikolai was going to get checked out. He tried not to curse at that and managed to step to the side and asked, “Now what’s the problem?”

Nicolette looked at the infirmary and blinked slowly. She replied, “Nothing,” and started forward.

MacTavish rolled his eyes as he held the door open and let her in. He didn’t expect to be pushed aside as Nicolette turned abruptly and left. “Shite. Bloody Yank.”

Nicolette walked away from the infirmary to look for some place to be alone. It was standard procedure to get checked out but not now. She wandered through the safe house like she had belonged until she found a place to take a breather. She squatted and leaned against the wall in silence until she heard, “Seems that your people knew you’d be here.”

Looking up she saw Captain Price looking down at her. He eyed her and she replied, “I left and ditched your man.”

“I figured that but you haven’t answered my question.”

Nicolette stood up, “I wasn’t aware that was a question.” She looked at the captain for a moment and added, “But as to that… I don’t know how they know unless it’s involved higher up.” She was tired and didn’t care if the man believed her or not.

“Maybe so,” Price replied as he held out something to her. “This was here waiting for you from someone named Jansen. Mean anything to you?”

Nicolette knew what that meant as she tentatively took the proffered package. She looked at the captain and said, “Yeah… my handler.”

Price made a slight sound as he studied her. She had handled herself well in his opinion for a spook. “Said you need to make a call but after you visit the infirmary.”

“No thank you.”

“Consider that an order.”


	4. Chapter 4

Nicolette played with the pad that had been sent to the safe house. It appeared that the program was paying attention and frankly she was surprised that they bothered to look for her when she went MIA or they even knew. Even she didn’t know where she had been taken until she escaped and crossed paths with her rescuers.

She accessed her connection, “Nicolette Walker, S64, go secure.”

The screen on the pad flickered to show her handler. He looked at her and said, “Agent Walker. Glad to see that you made it out alive. You aren’t any worse for the wear?”

Nicolette knew the personality of her handler and manners were everything or insisted upon. She recalled how Price escorted her to the infirmary even though she was ready to bolt again. Something about his manner had her suck up any anxiety though she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking while the ligature marks were treated as well as cuts and bruises. She looked at the man and replied, “I’m fine, sir. Cuts and bruises.”

“Anything else?”

“Nothing that won’t heal.” Nicolette glanced around and back down. “Sir, by now Al-Asad has taken over. He is working with the ultranationalists of Russia.”

“We know that.”

“Sir the cargo ship in the Bering Strait, the package was a bomb of the nuclear kind.” Her throat convulsed as she cleared it. “It was one of the things that Al-Asad talked about before evac was given.”

“And your assessment?”

Nicolette paused and glanced around. “I think this the first step of a larger plan to set nations on a collision course towards war. We are looking at allies united by a cause: a hatred for the western world.”

“You did say that previously and have sent your analysis. Unfortunately the United States has already started their attack on the city to capture Al-Asad.”

“He won’t be taken alive but he won’t risk his skin unnecessarily either.”

“Langley thinks otherwise.”

“I don’t, sir.”

“Of course you don’t.”

Nicolette cleared her throat as she switched the pad to her other hand. She knew that she was blunt and direct. When she was certain that she was right, she wouldn’t quit. It was a big negative at Langley but with Jansen, he encouraged it. She replied, “Sir, Al-Asad is seizing power. The last thing he would want to do is to damage his position. While he may have support of the military and the conservatives, opinions can be changed if he does something before securing his power.”

“This is true.”

Nicolette paused a moment as she thought about what she had gathered regarding the alliance. She looked off in the distance and frowned and recalled the financials she had dug up. “What if Al-Asad is in a partnership but it’s unequal?”

“What do you mean?”

Nicolette looked down at her handler’s face and said, “What if Al-Asad is not in an equal position? It would make sense if something were to happen. Al-Asad will follow the orders even though it will appear that he is in charge. Like Castro and Russia.”

“Sounds a little extreme.”

“Look at the financials. The Ultranationalists are waging civil war. It is expensive but so is a coup. The large sums are financial transactions, the kind of thing to buy weapons, support. Nothing is going in reverse.”

“Any idea who is his partner?”

“Not at the moment. What about the attack on Al-Asad?”

“Like I said, the Americans commenced an attack. They’re already searching for Al-Asad. Nothing more we can do there at the moment.” Jensen paused to look at her. “You have done well Agent Walker.”

“There is still work to do.”

“Indeed. We need to know who is associated with Al-Asad. You will stay on it.”

Nicolette didn’t expect anything less. This had been her baby since she had been put on it. Her confidence had eroded a little since she had been captured but she was determined and was willing to get back on the horse.  “Yes sir.”

“Put on Captain Price.”

If the request was strange, she wasn’t going to question it. She went in search of Captain Price and found him just outside the room. The man didn’t seem surprised that he was being called in and went into the room leaving her outside with the door shut in her face. She hadn’t attempted to follow but from the way things were handled it looked like that and it didn’t bother her. Rather she made a slight smile when her lip twitched and she backed away from the door.

It was easy to slip away since no one seemed to notice her. She wasn’t going to go anywhere but there was nothing for her to do. She managed to find a quiet corner where she could observe more or less without being seen but not too hard to find if you knew where to look. She sat and watched people while she pulled out the sidearm and went through the motions of disassembling and reassembling it in a continuous motion. She had just started reassembling it when she became aware someone was approaching.

Nicolette kept working and ignoring whoever it was that was approaching. They would make themselves known. He certainly did and stood impatiently watching her. She purposely ignored him while she put the next piece together slowly and deliberately. She finished assembling it and cocked it to make sure it was working before handing it over, “Here. Think you might want it back.”

“How’d the bloody hell did you know it was me?” MacTavish looked at her as she held out his sidearm towards him. He didn’t take it but continued to stare at her.

Nicolette turned to see the sergeant looking at her and replied with a teasing smile, “Because there is only person who sounds impatient when he’s silent.” She offered his gun to him. “Here.”

MacTavish raised his brow and took the weapon by the grip since she was holding it by the barrel. “And only one person who has the captain over my arse looking for you.” He took his weapon and clicked it to verify it still work but paused and looked at it. “What the bloody hell did you do to my gun?”

Nicolette leaned over to look at it. She could see the scratches and nicks from when she used it to bludgeon the Russians. There was also some blood, scalp and on the muzzle was a bit of hair and scalp and a little bit of bone. She raised her brow and offered, “Used it?”

MacTavish looked at it and said, “It looks more like you stuck it up someone’s arse and pulled the trigger.”

“Actually it was his mouth but same principle,” Nicolette corrected. She shrugged her shoulders, “I didn’t have a bigger gun so I had to get in close. Got the job done so what are you complaining about?”

“You’re lucky you were still able to fire the bloody thing.” MacTavish checked it and managed to pick the bone off of it. “Could’ve jammed it.”

Nicolette shrugged her shoulders. She was rather amused that he was getting so bent out of shape but she didn’t blame him. She could have been in serious trouble if it had jammed but it didn’t. That just seemed to be her luck in things.

_Nicky, I swear whatever bad and dangerous things that happen to other people you seem to walk away from…_

Nicolette felt her lip twitch and automatically she twisted the band of silver on her right ring finger. She said, “Guess it was just plain luck then.”

MacTavish watched as she played with her ring as she shrugged her shoulders. He looked at the gun and put the safety on and holstered it. Maybe Gaz would have a replacement. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well captain wants to see you. Everyone’s been looking for you.”

“And yet you managed to find me Scotty. How did you manage that?” Nicolette looked at MacTavish with mock surprise. It wasn’t that hard to find her in her opinion since she was out in the open and not hidden behind a door or something.

MacTavish tried not to react to her calling him Scotty. He had already given his name and she was being a pain in the arse with it. He could ignore it. He replied, “Just thought about what would you do when you want to piss me off.”

Nicolette gave a grin at the honesty of the answer and replied, “Very good.”

There was nothing to say to that but it had MacTavish a bit surprised that she was pleased with his answer. He followed her back down to where she was supposed to meet with the captain. It was his luck that he hadn’t been given leave to go and stayed right there and listened while she asked, “You wanted to see me Captain?”

Price wasted no words, “Seems like you get to stay around a little while longer Muppet.”

“And I assume it isn’t because of my sparkling personality,” she replied.

MacTavish tried not to let the expression on his face show since he didn’t have a problem with her talking to him like that. But she was talking to the captain and that was different. It was a surprise that Price didn’t seem too put out by it but rather amused. Then again it was hard to tell as he replied, “More like because of what you know. Seems your superiors think you can help us.”

“I don’t know about that,” Nicolette replied, “Depends on what I see.”

Price took in the look he was getting from the girl. He wouldn’t say it but he was surprised that she was staying. He spoke to Command and received the order that he was to keep her around and that was followed by his conversation with that Jansen fellow. It was unusual but he could see the logic since it was revealed that she had been communicating with Nikolai and had been monitoring the situation. He replied, “From what I hear you’re pretty good at seeing things. Where’d they find a muppet like you?”

“Behind a desk.”

Price wanted to laugh at that. This one may look like she belonged in an office building but she could fight. He replied, “You don’t act like it. As long as you’re here I expect you to follow my lead. This is my team.”

“Understood.”

“Good. Get some rest. You look like you could use some.”

“Thank you.”

MacTavish was outside the door when Nicolette came out with no expression on her face. He was going to go in the opposite direction when he heard, “Soap, a word.”

****

“Come on pick one… unless you want that AK.”

Nicolette looked at Gaz with a razed brow and replied, “No thank you. That was out of necessity.” She paused a moment and then looked at Gaz and asked, “What do you recommend?”

Gaz nearly wanted to laugh along with Nikolai who was just watching with amusement. This was like going to Marks and Spencer and looking for a bargain. He had to ask, “Don’t you know?”

“I’m an analyst, not a soldier.”

“And yet you managed to kill seven guys who are larger than you and you saved my hide.”

Nicolette shrugged as she looked down at what was available. Gaz had found her while she was wandering around and said she needed to outfit up. She readily agreed since she had nothing better to do until she found some privacy to look at the pad Price handed back to her since there was data for her to pour through. She looked at Gaz and said, “I had some time training at the farm but I wasn’t recruited to be a field agent.”

Gaz had a hard time believing that since he had seen what she could do. She fought like a soldier and she was about to kick Soap’s ass when they found her. She had endured being a prisoner and escaped with nothing but a knife. She had to be good. Yet a closer look revealed that she was being serious. “You’re serious aren’t you?”

“I said I could shoot. I never said I was good at it,” Nicolette admitted. “My specialty is hand to hand.”

“Really?”

“That hard to believe?”

“After seeing what you can do…”

Nicolette gave a slight grin. She looked at the rifles available and picked up one that looked like it wasn’t going to be ridiculously huge in her hands. She wasn’t an expert but she knew enough of what went where, reload and lock and load. She checked it out and put it in the ready position and looked at Gaz and said, “Like a puzzle. Once you figure it out…”

“So that’s your secret,” Gaz replied. He inspected it and noted how well she held it. “You know you’re more accurate if you aim down the sights than firing from the hip.”

Nicolette nodded in understanding. She decided to tease just a bit, “Something about wasting too many bullets when firing from the hip.”

Gaz couldn’t help but smile at that. She knew what she was doing at least enough to stay alive. “What about a sidearm?” When she paused he said, “I’m sure you won’t use it to hit something unless you’re out.”

Nicolette made a slight face at that while Gaz and Nikolai laughed at her. Probably MacTavish got a replacement and was asked questions. She picked up the M1911 and proceeded to inspect and take it apart and put it together, finishing with loading a pistol mag and made it ready to go before flipping the safety on. “Like I said, close quarters is my specialty.”

Gaz nodded before getting up and stood in front of her. She would do fine. He still thought she was kidding with the whole weapons thing since she handled both the rifle and sidearm very well. She could give Selection a run for its money. She might even make it through. He gestured towards her knife, “You want a new one?”

Nicolette looked down at the knife on her belt. She had cleaned it off so there was no blood on it but it was easy to see that it wasn’t a standard issue. She wasn’t inclined to be superstitious but she did tend to stick with the philosophy ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and in this case she was inclined to follow it. “No. I’m a bit partial to it,” she said with a smile. “Anything else I need to do?”

“Good for now.”

Nicolette waited until Gaz was gone before saying, “Sometimes I wonder if it is by sheer dumb luck I get stuck in these situations.”

Nikolai hadn’t left and heard what she said and replied, “Depends on how you look at it.”

Nicolette looked at Nikolai and muttered something in Russian and listened to his response with a slight smile. She then said in English, “I just seem to get away with lesser injuries than most. You know my informant in the city took a bullet for me before I escaped. He died and I lived.” She looked at nothing in particular. “I didn’t sign up to be a field agent but… management thought I could best serve elsewhere.”

Nikolai listened as she grew thoughtful. He offered, “Maybe they were right.” When she looked at him he explained, “Perhaps there is something that they saw that you can’t.”

“Yeah I can talk to people and get them to talk to me. I find connections in things people wouldn’t think about. That is special,” Nicolette replied in a slightly sarcastic tone. She twisted the silver band on her finger. “Pulled me from behind a desk, put a gun in my hand and said go find Al-Asad. I wasn’t lying about that.”

Nikolai mused and led the way to go for a walk. He watched as she slung the rifle onto her shoulder and picked up her computer and tucked it under her arm. “So you were thrown in.”

“Learned on the job and it was fucking scary since I nearly got myself killed.”

“But you’re still here.”

“True and I’m concerned about the attack on the city to remove Al-Asad.”

“So like me you know he’ll never be taken alive.”

“That but something else about this whole thing.” Nikolai rubbed her temple and hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she should share her thoughts with Nikolai. She liked him well enough but this was intelligence and some of it was opinion that was considered bullshit to put it mildly. “But nothing that I can’t look up.”

Nikolai sensed that she didn’t want to talk anymore about that. As an informant, he knew the score when it came to who you trusted with the information you had. While they had been contacts, it was only with what was important like the cargo ship. He took the hint and changed the subject, “You speak Russian very well for someone who was found behind a desk.”

It was hard not to talk about the job when your skill sets were related to them. Nicolette gave a slight smile and replied, “My foster mother taught me.”

“What is that?”

“My brother and I were in the foster care system; kids taken from their parents for whatever reason that fits into the category of not being able to take care of kids,” Nicolette explained, “We moved around a lot until Karen Rustakov took us in. It was her way of reaching out and connecting with me. My brother… more with her cooking.” She gave a chuckle at that.

“It’s very good. You sound like you are from the motherland,” Nikolai complimented. It was the honest truth since she responded in kind when addressed. “You even know not so formal words.”

“One of the reasons that attracted my superiors,” Nicolette replied feeling more at ease with Nikolai. “Karen was more a mother to Kyle and me than our real mom whoever she was and it was maybe luck or blessing or whatever that child services allowed her to keep us. So… here I am.”

They talked some more about nothing in particular though mostly it was about Nikolai asking if she was serious about drinking vodka in a contest. Nicolette grinned at that since she liked having a few things to keep people wondering. She looked at the Russian and said, “I speak Russian and I learned Russian culture from Karen.”

“That doesn’t mean that you have a head for drink.”

“Maybe it does.”

Nikolai paused to look at her. She was wearing a mischievous look about her face. “You are teasing.”

“No I’m not. I’m a good loser and I have a head for vodka. I’m fluent in it,” she replied with a straight face. “My brother is a bad loser and fluent in whiskey.” She paused to let it sink in and added, “I don’t tease about drinking.”

“You just don’t seem the type.”

“I don’t seem to be the type for this job. What else is new?”

“Alright my friend. I still will take you up on that offer for a contest then,” Nikolai replied.

“I feel a bit sorry for you then but I do have manners when I lose,” Nicolette replied with a grin. “If there’s one thing I like about this job is that you can always find someone who looks surprised after they say they don’t believe you.” She chuckled a bit at that and grew silent for a moment.

Nikolai picked up on it and asked, “What is on your mind little Nico?”

That caught her attention, “What?” She had never been called that before and for the most part no one called her by name except for her last name. When Nikolai didn’t respond, she asked, “What did you call me?”

“Forgive me. It was something I thought of during our flight here. No one has called you by name since you joined us. It was a suggestion. You not like?”

Nicolette thought about it some. The only other person to call her by a nickname was her brother and he had been the only one to call her that. Not even her friends at the Company called her that or any other variation. What Nikolai suggested was not that bad and it was unique to her name and it did sound a bit like the call signs the others had. She replied, “I like it. I’m just not used to it. Only my brother calls me Nicky and only to piss me off.”

Nikolai nodded, “Then I shall call you Nico. I apologize for calling you little but…”

“Yeah I know. I look little.”

“A little Nico,” he teased and they shared a laugh.

****

“So you were assigned to Bravo Team to search for Zakhaev,” Said asked more as a statement rather than a question. He looked at Nicolette who was looking back at him.

“We didn’t know it was Zakhaev at that time,” Nicolette pointed out as she rubbed the table surface. “It was a gamble to keep me with them. Normally I would have been shipped out and gone but someone who does the same job I do except with personnel thought I’d have a good percentage of getting our man. Either that or it was a bad joke since I am not a field agent.”

“So you’ve said quite often.”

“You’re not the first to not believe me since I have shown otherwise,” Nicolette countered as she folded her hands. “But I was recruited to be an analyst. I am good at it. The more physical stuff was on the job training. Believe me it took the whole team to a new level of stress to keep me out of trouble.”

“So you expect me to believe that it wasn’t coincidence that you were there at the moment Bravo Team was extracting their informant who gave you the name Nico?”

“Not exactly a nice and neat package I know,” Nicolette replied, “But in the end I got a nice name that eventually everyone started calling me by.” She grinned at Said knowing what was going to come next.


	5. Chapter 5

There are different ways to look at human behavior and equal amounts of efforts that try to explain that behavior. Mostly it was psychological and all that other shit but it was legitimate. Risks, motivations and incentives… they figured a great deal into the decisions people made with their lives and the lives of others. Nicolette was inclined to think of everything as a complex system; it was how she saw the world and it gave her the idea for her thesis in college, which subsequently caught the attention of the Company. Studying everything she had collected and with what was coming in on the pad that she had brought to the roof with her, had her going back to her old habits.

Technically she was supposed to be catching up on her sleep and she had an hour or so to do that but with the pressing nature of the American attempt at catching Al-Asad at hand, she was anxious to get to work. She was well aware though that she would need the rest since there was the danger of information burnout and overload. It happened on occasion and Jensen had been on her case to not let that happen so she more or less obeyed that directive.

Idly she was flipping through the information she had and what she received. She also went through her personal data on Al-Asad and other players that might have a role. She was still in the same mindset that the man wouldn’t allow himself to be taken alive but he also wouldn’t sacrifice his own skin. She saw that politically rash actions could make him very unpopular; the lesson about the king being nothing without his subjects was pretty much the example it was. However, the missing nuke was a problem.

Sighing she put the pad down and looked up at the sky. Idly she wondered where her brother was. His last email stated that he was stationed in Afghanistan so technically he was nowhere near the city where Al-Asad was holed up in supposedly. He mentioned chasing some minor leader of an ultraconservative Islamic group that shared Al-Asad’s views but they were more like a pest in Afghanistan even though there were ties to larger groups like the Taliban.

_Getting into the same shit I get into aren’t you Kyle?_

She had taken his information and done some research on it even though that wasn’t her purview. It was more like an exercise when her current assignment was getting a little too overwhelming. Most would say that she was crazy for combining relaxation with work. She had some ideas about that but it wasn’t her place to do anything so she kept it tucked away and occasionally sent something to her brother more along the lines of what to look out for and to be careful. He’d always respond that she always saw things but it was spoken with pride. Then he’d make his usual comment about being careful and tell her to do the same. As far as he knew, she was doing relief work in remote places of the world. It sucked that she couldn’t read him in but she didn’t want anyone to know too much about him.

Lifting her left, Nicolette checked her watch that had been waiting at the safe house. It seemed that Jensen had a long reach. It was a watch that also gave bearings and connected her to the network she tapped into when she needed resources. It was brand new smart technology; she hadn’t even heard of it yet. The note that accompanied it said, _Consider this the beta test—J._

It was touch sensitive and connected with the radios field officers wore. There were probably other features she wasn’t aware of and she hadn’t the time to check them out or attempt to take it apart and examine it. As far as she knew Jensen, apart from her brother, was the only one who cared if she was still alive and breathing and at times it had her wondering if he was even reporting to the Company. She had no physical proof so she left it alone but she got the feeling that she was CIA in name for the most part but part of something else.

A beeping sound caught her attention and she lifted her pad. An indicator light was going off and she clicked on it. What she saw had her sit up and mutter something before she stood up and started running along the roof top. She had to confirm this and took the most direct route which was on the roof and lowered herself into the window she wanted and made a beeline to the computer and started pushing buttons.

It went well until the door opened and she heard, “What the bloody hell are you doing in here?”

Nicolette ignored them for a moment as she finished looking back and forth and finally at the larger screen. It showed what she had gotten and the projected radius. “Nuclear bomb,” she said.

What happened afterwards was more of a scramble to get answers and attempts to keep the panic down. Price seemed to be the steady one and asked, “What’s the situation?”

Nicolette replied as she pulled up imagery, “This is from a remote camera feed on the attack. The Americans had confirmation of a nuclear device and were sending in NEST when this…” The film showed the picture of the mushroom cloud followed by the shock wave that followed. The camera turned to static.

Price studied the screen along with Gaz. It was all laid out nice and neat and did give sustenance to the fact that his ‘intelligence’ officer really was someone from behind a desk. “How many?”

“Not known. Marine forces were in the process of falling back to a safe distance when it went off.” Nicolette pointed at the screens. “The radius is indicated here and these are first-hand accounts.”

“Might I ask how you got a hold of them?”

“My sector,” Nicolette offered to the captain, “And I have been monitoring American forces until I was captured. Luckily nothing was saved on disks and I was able to access once I had a connection to the offsite data storage. Plus it’s not that hard to hack into video feed in military ops… once you know what to look for.”

“You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?”

“Had to learn on the job and I’m better at sabotage than download.”

Price almost chuckled since it seemed that he was stuck with someone who had a wide skill set but claimed it was all luck. “And Al-Asad?”

“The man is a coward Captain Price,” Nikolai’s voice came in over the com. “Al-Asad would never sacrifice himself.”

“I’m in agreement there,” Nicolette added. “The man is too full of himself and fancies himself as the savior of his people.” _And a sexist asshole considering that I had to once meet the man while working on this assignment._

“Nico is right.”

Price looked at Nicolette at the use of her new nickname. She shrugged at that and asked, “Nikolai, is there any place he would have gone?”

“There is a safe house in Azerbaijan that Al-Asad has used in the past. I am sending you the coordinates.”

Nicolette looked at her watch and saw them being uploaded onto it. _Beta testing my ass._ She also noted the transmission coming through as Price replied, “Understood Nikolai. Gaz, assemble the team. We’re going to Azerbaijan.”

“Yes sir. I hear it’s lovely this time of year,” Gaz replied and turned to assemble the team leaving Price with Nicolette.

Price looked at Nicolette as she pulled everything down and saved it. It was a bit unnerving but Nicolette was used to it. She was ready when Price asked, “So how did you get in here?”

“Through the window,” she replied pointing. “I just had to verify since I lost about two days I think.”

“Fine but next time you get something, you come to me,” Price replied. He was giving her a lot of leeway on this and for his own reasons that had little to nothing to do with the fact that he was stuck with her. “You let me know so everyone is on the same page. Last thing I need is to explain how a Yank was arrested or shot on my watch.”

Nicolette finished and looked at the captain. She nodded in agreement, “Done and done. I can draw up any information you might need… possible areas of advantage that kind of thing from what I remember. I played a cover to get close to Al-Asad and he showed me the place.” It was better to explain now and answer all potential questions.

“Not necessary,” Price said. When she looked at him he said, “The whole team is going and that includes you. So pack your bags, you’re coming with, Nico.” He could tell that he surprised her by calling her that. It was a hell of a lot better than calling her Yank or by her last name though it wasn’t unusual. For the most part he didn’t know what to call her and Nikolai’s name for her worked. Besides he rather liked it.

Mission briefing was what it was and Nicolette found herself standing with the team and, not so surprising, by MacTavish. He looked a little bit annoyed standing there next to her but her attention was on Gaz and the briefing. She did feel like she was being watched but it wasn’t in the bad sort of way. She couldn’t quite put her finger on the whole thing. When they were finished and prepping to go, she asked the Scot, “Gaz give you trouble about the pistol?”

“More like harassment.” MacTavish was well aware that he sounded a bit gruff about the whole thing but he was preparing mentally for what was coming up and thinking about adjustments since he had a secondary job.

“Sorry.”

MacTavish looked at her and saw that she was genuinely sorry about that. He grunted, “Don’t worry about it. Got another.” It was a lie actually. He just had Gaz check it out to make sure it was still functioning and kept it.

Nicolette replied with an appropriate look, “Good. Wouldn’t want it jamming now would we?” She picked up the rifle she had chosen previously and checked it feeling a little out of place wearing the Kevlar vest since she appeared tiny in those things.

MacTavish finished his prep and just kept an eye on her. He hadn’t forgotten what Price had said to him… _I need you to keep an eye on her. Keep her alive…_ He figured it might be that the captain didn’t trust her since she was a spy but he wasn’t going to question orders. He had yet to figure out all the intricacies of less being more when it came to Price giving orders but that sounded about right. When looking at her, he thought she looked out of place; the vest fitted but it looked… strange even more so with her dressed in fatigues and hair pulled back into a severe knot. The idea that it was hilarious crossed his mind and he quickly banished it not wanting to acknowledge that she did look like a little girl playing dress up.

“You do look like a Muppet in that, Nico,” Gaz was saying to Nicolette.

MacTavish frowned at the name and looked to see who it was when he realized Gaz was talking to Nicolette. She replied, “I know. The military doesn’t take into account curves just like they don’t have a big and tall.”

“Maybe you’ll get confused for a short man.”

“Usually am,” Nicolette replied with a grin. “The hair doesn’t even give me away.”

“Well you look all set. See you on the heli, Nico.”

“Right,” Nicolette replied. Taking a breath she started to follow Gaz as she adjusted her grip on her chosen rifle.

MacTavish followed and managed to catch up and asked, “You do know that there is a way to talk to officers?”

“Is it supposed to mean anything to me?”

“Forget I asked.”

“I know there is, Soap,” Nicolette replied, using his call sign as a form of apology. “I’m just insubordinate on all levels. It’s why I never joined the military. Besides I can’t help it. Old habit from childhood. Attitude and an occasional joke and a fist.”

MacTavish replied, “Well you haven’t gotten into any serious trouble yet.”

“Not yet and I know you’ll be the first to let Price know.” Nicolette looked at MacTavish and gave a slight grin at the look on his face. “It’s what I would do if I were stuck with someone that you aren’t sure of.” She continued on walking and got into the heli and proceeded to sit where she was told to sit while MacTavish followed wondering why the hell Price ordered him to do this.

The ride tor Northern Azerbaijan was rather quiet though most of the team was interested in the fact that Nicolette was reading data from her pad before tucking it into the pack strapped to her like she was on a pleasure cruise. They weren’t going to question it too much since she was with Intelligence and more likely she was doing whatever they wanted her to do. They went about their business in anticipation to the drop they were going to do.

Nicolette looked at the group in a glance and noted those that were looking at her before they went back to whatever they were doing to prep for the drop. She went back to reading data on her pad. She was well aware it was like the jocks taking the nerd into a competition and expecting to win the match even though there were some doubts. It never occurred to her that some of those looks were because she was a woman. She looked up slightly though her head was down to see MacTavish looking at her. She let out a chuckle at his expression.

“What’s so funny?” MacTavish looked at her, wondering what she was laughing at.

“Big brother is watching you,” Nicolette replied with a grin. “I’m an Orwell fan.”

MacTavish took in her smirk and retorted, “Very funny.” He realized she was making fun of him and almost turned a shade of red at that much to his annoyance.

“It’s hilarious,” Nicolette replied. She put her pad back in her pack. “Hilarious that Orwell predicted the world we live in way before it came to pass and he was more along the lines of political satire of the fascist movements.” She adjusted her rifle on her lap. “Not unlike our problem here.”

“You’re comparing fiction to reality?”

“All fiction is based on some truth, Soap,” she replied. She shifted a little and looked at him, “The best stories are those that are laced with truth and in the end the story becomes the truth.”

“Alright time to go.”

MacTavish glanced over where everyone else was getting ready to go. He looked at Nicolette who was on her feet and checking her stuff before following the others and he took up the rear. He followed her as they roped down and noticed how graceful she made it look when she touched down and it slide automatically into that tense posture of bringing up her rifle and holding it, keeping an eye out for any signs of Al-Asad’s men. He crouched next to her and asked, “Behind a desk?”

“Like I said before. I learned on the job. Some were from school days.” Nicolette looked around.

“Right,” MacTavish muttered. He was like the others, inclined to believe that she was messing with them.

Nicolette glanced at MacTavish with a slight eye roll. “All stories have some truth,” she muttered as she made to follow the group as they advanced on the village where Al-Asad was hiding. When they paused she checked her watch for the coordinates and just to get a fix on their bearing.

MacTavish followed staying close. That was the second time she said that. She was a spy. It was their job to lie in order to get what they wanted. That was how it worked at least that was how it seemed to him. He watched as she held her rifle and kissed her left thumb and tapped her forehead and couldn’t help but ask, “Prayer?”

“Just something for luck,” Nicolette replied with a shrug. It was something she had done ever since the first time she had been sent into the field. It was after the close call, a day she should have died for her mistake but didn’t. Things worked out in the end but that didn’t make her feel better about the whole thing. She learned that from a local woman who blessed her in that manner and when she learned what it meant, she kept doing it before every time she had to play the part or go in with a gun like she was now. It was a bit unnerving that someone noticed and was curious.

Getting up from her crouched position, she advanced forward. She wanted to curse herself for even revealing that about her. She didn’t know MacTavish and he was treating it more like his personal mission to interrogate her aside from watching her. It was almost like being back in that gulag… almost. The difference was she sensed MacTavish was not normally like this and there was a human being underneath. She figured he had a lot to prove since she had inquired around in a roundabout way and learned from Gaz that he was new to the unit. She could cut him a little slack but she wasn’t going to be a pushover either.

MacTavish followed Nicolette as they advanced on the village. For someone who said they weren’t recruited for field ops, she moved like she knew what she was doing. He sensed though that she was giving him a cold shoulder by her stance. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked that question in the tone he did. It was like he was searching for something wrong with her and was making an ass out of himself. He made the note to just do the job.

Nicolette scanned the terrain and had eased to be close to Price. She said, “This is the outskirts. Guards will be skirting along, buildings as cover. More likely Al-Asad will be hiding within the village.”

Price nodded, “You happen to know which one?”

“Negative,” Nicolette replied, “The sexist bastard likes to move around though given events that have occurred, he’ll hole up where he has tactical advantage.”

Price glance at Nicolette surprised at the heated tone she had when referring to their target. He was liking her more and more but he was inclined to reserve judgment until a critical moment. “We’ll be meeting with Loyalists. They’ll have an assessment. I hope you’re Russian is good.”

Nicolette said nothing about that. The man knew she spoke Russian since she had spoken to Nikolai right in front of him. She took it as a reminder that she was in his territory now and she was willing to accept that. “We’ll see,” she murmured as she followed the captain to the wait point.

The night was quiet and one could easily see how the tranquility of it could be disturbed. Nicolette kept her crouched position and looked around, well aware that MacTavish was right next to her. She checked their bearing and then saw the signal light. She moved when they were signaled to move forward to meet the Russian Loyalist. He filled them in, “Al-Asad is in the village. The Ultranationalists are protecting him.”

“Perfect,” Price said, not looking at Nicolette who was covering their rear with MacTavish. “Move out.”

The team began to move and MacTavish thought that he was going to have to lag behind to wait for Nicolette but she kept up easily. She followed his trail since he was in the lead and they went through the empty service station. He was surprised that she was covering his back since it was supposed to be the other way around but he wasn’t going to complain since they had a job to do. Yet he was certain that what she said about her background was made up to mess with them since the more he watched, the more he was certain she knew what she was doing.

They had to sprint to catch up with the rest of the squad and it was tough carrying about fifty pounds of gear. You had to be fit and MacTavish could claim that. He wasn’t sure about Nicolette but found she easily kept up, her breathing normal even though she was running.

_What the bloody hell is going on up there?_

_It’s the Ultranationalists. They’re killing the villagers._

“And that’s why he’s a bastard,” Nicolette murmured as she heard the transaction between Gaz and the Russian Loyalist. “I hate bullies.”

“Mild way of putting it,” MacTavish said.

“Better than anything else I could say.”

“I bet you could.”

“Wanna bet on it Soap?”

MacTavish glanced at her and noted that she wasn’t kidding. She had a challenge in her eye as they followed the squad. “Alright you’re on,” he finally said. “You come up with one insult and I’ll come up with one. Best one wins.”

“Anything goes both in forfeit and choice?”

MacTavish knew he was going to wind up in some trouble over this. He didn’t even know why he agreed to this since didn’t want to interact too much with her because of what she was and he had to watch her. Yet the way how she annoyed him, he didn’t want to back down; that Scottish bullheadedness his family teased him about reared its head and he felt compelled to give into that. It was definitely going to be his downfall and found himself agreeing, “Aye.”

“Excellent.”

“Shite.”

They didn’t have much time to talk about it since the charge up the hill revealed enemy hidden in the houses and the tall grass. The volley of fire began and MacTavish swung his weapon up to aim down the sights and shoot. He managed to spare a glance and noticed Nicolette firing at the enemy and was struck with a brief moment that it looked like she was going to be blown off her feet from the recoil but she held her ground and moved to take cover.

Staying with her they moved to flank the Ultranationalists that were coming down the hill. MacTavish fired and pulled a grenade to throw. He took the time to aim.

“Make sure it doesn’t roll down the hill.”

“I can throw a grenade,” he retorted.

“Just trying to help you out,” Nicolette replied as she aimed with her weapon.

MacTavish rolled his eyes and threw the grenade. It helped to take out a group of enemy targets and Nicolette picked off stragglers. They continued down into the basement of the building they were going to clear. They were lucky that the Ultranationalist missed and the wood behind them splintered. The natural instinct was to duck and hunch the shoulders, which was what MacTavish did. Nicolette fell against the wall with the window and fired back even though debris was flying around her.

She took out the target and the one who came to back up from her awkward position. MacTavish looked at her and she shrugged, “I never said I could shoot well.”

“Building clear. No sign of Al-Asad. Move on to the next one,” Gaz said as the rest of the squad came in.

Nicolette was on her feet before anyone noticed. It had been an awkward position to get up from but she did. She didn’t expect the hand steadying her on the back of her vest and glanced at MacTavish. All he did was signal to move on and she followed Gaz and the others.


	6. Chapter 6

There were a dozen different scenarios that involved shooting guns and debris flying. Nicolette could name one or two and the rest was from nasty images and maybe a third. In the end they tended to blend together and brought credence to the acronym SSDD (Same Shit Different Day). She kneeled by the building and paused to reload while the bullets whizzed right by.

_Is this the shit you go through over in Afghan, Kyle?_

It had her wondering since her brother was chasing black men in turbans and pajamas for whoever he was looking for. Nicolette peered over the edge and fired at some Ultranationalist that was firing back. She certainly was chasing her own and he was a sexist bastard. She thought about her impromptu bet with MacTavish and her lip twitched.

She wondered why the Scot even agreed. She was certain he didn’t even like her and yet he couldn’t help it when she responded to his comments and he responded in kind. The sad thing was that she liked doing it. Most people she met were… boring in terms of having fun with a joke and maybe it was just her weird sense of humor that classified people like that. Certainly Gavin thought her strange when she made assumptions about people and they ended up making it a game.

The loud rattling of a gun went off and it snapped Nicolette back into reality. Yeah they had to clear out the buildings one by one. She looked at the dead body nearby and sighed. It was one of the villagers that had been executed. Next to that body was a dead Ultranationalist. She gave him two in the chest and surprisingly one in the head and that was after she had been shot at like the first house they cleared. At least she hadn’t fallen on her ass like that time. _That_ was damned lucky.

_Helicopter is on the way. We’ll handle it. Out._

Nicolette knew that MacTavish had given coordinates for the Havoc to clear another area when she heard the transmission through her earpiece. A sudden spattering of Russian caught her attention and she fired out the window and got the bastard. She almost didn’t see the grenade that had been tossed in her direction.

She took off running out of the room and ended up colliding with MacTavish. They both went over the railing just as the grenade exploded and landed on something. She could hear the Scot grunt and she tried to move as bits of debris were falling and she could hear footsteps of someone. She grabbed her rifle and moved to point it at none other than Gaz who came to check and see if they were okay. Gaz said, “Whoa there. Just checking on you two.”

Nicolette lowered her rifle and replied, “Okay.” She wasn’t sure since she fully realized that she pinned MacTavish with her movements and probably gave him an elbow or knee in the gut or stepped on him. “Soap pulled me out before it went off.”

If Gaz had any comment about the scene, he didn’t say anything. “Come on then. Next building,” he merely said and moved out.

Nicolette moved after lowering her rifle and looked down as MacTavish was getting to his feet. “You okay?”

“No,” came the rather childish sounding reply.

“Are you hit?”

“No.”

“Anything broken?”

“No.”

Normally Nicolette would have gotten exasperated. It was the same crap she and Kyle used to do to each other when they didn’t want to reveal how bad they were hurt and try to tough it out. She sensed that this wasn’t the case and decided to be cute, “Broke your bum?”

“Shut up,” MacTavish said as he hauled himself to his feet. He had been moving to clear out and move towards the next building when he saw the grenade and she came out and barreled into him. They hit the dirt and somehow he managed to take the brunt of the fall and she tried to twist to land on her feet. He ended up with an elbow in the gut and then she stepped on him trying to cover his ass.

“I’m not too far off the mark,” Nicolette commented with a wry grin.

“You are a pain in my ass.”

“I was one obviously and you’re still feeling it.”

“Damn bloody Yank.”

Nicolette wanted to laugh at the Scot since that was the only thing he could come up with to call her and she had been called worse. She took in the glare MacTavish was giving her. She offered, “That is what I am.”

MacTavish scowled at that, “Just go.” It was his pride that took a hit and just… no excuse really. And it really stung that she always had something to say.

“Okay,” Nicolette replied like she was trying to hide and started moving in the direction Gaz went. She then muttered within his earshot, “Scottish bastard.”

MacTavish said nothing but followed her out towards the next building. They were actually able to move ahead and MacTavish took point to the next building. With occasional bullets whizzing by, it was hard to keep moving but he did and was covered by Nicolette. He was grateful for that considering that it was his ass on the line there. When he paused to reload she was there covering his six. He glanced at her when she said, “Just a stroll in the park.”

It was hardly that but it had MacTavish begin to think she used humor as a means of a shield and to downplay a situation to make it easier to swallow. She certainly had no problems shooting people that were shooting at her. He also suspected that she did it on purpose to annoy him; actually that was a given and he was a dumbass to respond to it. Yet they pushed forward towards the buildings, clearing them out one by one.

At the base of the hill, after the Havoc called in that their guns were dry, MacTavish made to check out a building to clear it. He was about to check the corner when he felt a tug on the back of his vest. He turned to see Nicolette holding fast to his vest and shaking her head. MacTavish rolled his eyes and tried to move again but she had a surprisingly tight grip and he would have shouted except she had picked up a rock and threw it around the corner. The resulting gunfire had him pause and he realized that it could cut them down given the firepower behind it. He looked at Nicolette and she shrugged her shoulders.

It was more of a hunch she played when she grabbed MacTavish by the vest to prevent him from moving. She didn’t know for sure and probably being paranoid but something just didn’t sit right about that corner and she went with it. Technically she didn’t have to care about MacTavish in the least. She wasn’t one of them and was just stuck there because a ‘bureaucrat’ said so. What she had learned though from her experiences in her covers on the job was that you looked out for your teammate. You watched their back and they watched yours. Plus Kyle always emphasized it when she teased him about a ‘new boyfriend’. So it was natural to look after the guy who was supposed to be watching her. It was weird in twisted sense but it made sense to her.

Now they were stuck without a means of how to take them out. MacTavish sucked it up and looked to Nicolette for an idea and was actually surprised she didn’t go running off like the last time. He raised a brow at her since he didn’t want to raise an alarm. He could hear Russian being spoken and wondered if they were moving or not.

Nicolette had been listening to what they were saying. They were wondering if it was a damn dog or a rat that caused the noise. So they were okay… for the moment. The thing was to take them out before they mowed down the team if they came too close. She caught MacTavish looking at her for an idea and she returned a look that clearly said, “Oh now you want me to help?”

MacTavish raised his brow again well aware that this was ridiculous that they were still arguing in the middle of a fight. He urged, “Any bright ideas?”

Nicolette looked around and then up. She had an idea but it was a harebrained one and one that would more likely have Price chew out MacTavish. The only other thing was to take the chance and run out and find cover and draw fire and get into good firing range. She made a slight gesture upwards with her brow and gave a questioning look.

MacTavish followed her gaze and the question implied and caught on what she was thinking. He looked at her like she was nuts, worse than nuts a cowboy Yank or whatever the hell… She continued to stare as if to ask him what his idea was. Sighing he asked with gestures what to do. It wasn’t too hard since he pressed his back on the wall and held his hands for her to step in them. Her hands pushed off his shoulders as she stood straight as he lifted her up.

Nicolette grasped the edges of the roof and pulled herself over the edge and gently stepped on the roof. She peered over to signal that she was okay and to wait for the signal. She slowly treaded along the roof heading to where she was going to ambush from behind and then MacTavish would finish them off. The only downside was that she was in risk of being caught in the cross fire if she didn’t move fast enough but she trusted the Scot to know what he was doing and continued.

The surprise wasn’t to happen when she stepped on a part of the roof and a loud noise happened. She cursed since it drew the attention of the ones with the guns and they started firing through the roof at her. She took off running making noise to avoid getting hit towards the edge she had been heading to and just dropped with one hand on her pistol and the other reaching for the edge of the roof.

_Don’t let me down._

Nicolette aimed her pistol and fired while the Russians were still trying to turn. She hit one in the shoulder and with her momentum she swung underneath the awning and let her feet do the talking with the other one, slamming into his body and into the wall. She hit the ground and rolled since she heard MacTavish’s weapon firing and brought up her pistol to take out another Ultranationalist trying to come out the door, her legs stopping her momentum to position her body.

“Nice going,” MacTavish said.

“Like I knew that was going to happen,” she shot back. “At least we got em.”

MacTavish could hardly argue with that since they did clear the area. “Just don’t suggest anything that stupid again.”

“Hey I asked you. You looked at me.”

MacTavish stared at Nicolette as she put her pistol back into the holster and rearmed with her rifle. She was looking back at him as if daring him to say otherwise. He didn’t say anything to her since Gaz showed up. MacTavish said, “Building clear.”

“Let’s move on to the next one.”

 MacTavish stole a glance at her and said, “Just stay on the ground.”

“Until it becomes necessary,” Nicolette retorted as she followed MacTavish to the next building. She sighed softly the moment his back was turned since that had been a bit of a scary moment. Again sheer dumb luck that she hadn’t been hit though she did feel some stinging on her face from flying debris. Of course she did resent the fact that MacTavish implied it was all her doing but that could be worked out later with a good fist fight or another verbal argument. That fueled her as she checked her watch for the bearing and followed MacTavish up the hill where he was relaying coordinates for another aerial assault. “Same shit,” she muttered, unaware that she had been close to Price and he heard what she said.

****

“Remember, we want Al-Asad alive. He’s no good to us dead.”

 _True but he deserves worse than death_ , Nicolette thought to herself as she readied her rifle. She glanced at her person and saw how dirty she was. That was what she got for hitting the dirt but then again you had to make sure you weren’t going to get hit. MacTavish had pushed her down into the dirt and she got the feeling he had some satisfaction doing that. She would give him that one since he seemed to be at a loss for words or he would rather say them in private without the fear of being overheard by say a superior officer.

The fact that they were now just a door away from Al-Asad, Nicolette could feel a sense of some relief that a sort of upper hand was going to be had here. It was a lot more complicated when you figured in politics and all that crap and you argued philosophies; the kind of thing that belonged in schools but much simpler when you were on the ground with a gun and shooting at the other side trying to hit them before they could hit you. While the more down to earth part of her felt that, the analytical part of her sensed that there were going to be major changes with a major player being captured. A connection could be found to the Ultranationalists she had missed before… possibilities.

“Let’s go."

Price’s voice brought Nicolette back to the moment and she tensed, ready to move as Price opened the door. She followed ready to be back up as Price and Gaz took out the two guards that were with Al-Asad. She was stopped by the door but not before she caught a glimpse of Price pouncing in on the target and delivering a set of stinging punches.

It was short work to tie up the target but Nicolette had no part in it. Rather she was kept out of the way while Al-Asad was strapped to the chair. Maybe they thought she would say something but she wasn’t going to. She knew that this was going to be an interrogation and it usually required something a little more ‘persuasive’ than asking nicely.

“Why’d you do it? Where did you get the bomb?”

The sound of Price’s fists making contact with skin was oddly satisfying. Nicolette glanced over at MacTavish and noted that he was not really looking at the scene. He did look at her and she just shrugged her shoulders and turned away so as not to ‘see’ what was going on.

“Like I would tell you unless the little…” Then came a very uncomplimentary name in Arabic came forth.

Nicolette didn’t move but she knew what it meant. She kept her back turned but the target taunted again saying that name he called her again. She could hide behind Price’s men but she decided to face it. It wasn’t like they could understand what the bastard was saying except for maybe Price since he appeared thoughtful. He looked at her and she just gave a blank stare before looking at Al-Asad. She spoke in Arabic, “You’re manners haven’t improved since the last time you pig.”

“A slut of a woman. What are you doing with these infidels? Are you a traitor to your cause?”

Nicolette took a couple of steps forward to get closer but not too close. She replied, “Figure it out. Now give us a name.”

“What name?” Al-Asad then called her a few names.

Nicolette blinked as she pulled out her pistol and aimed. She pulled the trigger and all that was heard was splintering wood. The end result was the chair tilting on three legs. She prepped to fire another round. She repeated the question in Arabic, “Where did you get it from? Who?”

“The last time you weren’t so forceful. More coy about it.”

Nicolette cocked her gun and fired again hitting the other front leg of the chair so now he was tilting forward. She looked at the man who was looking at her with that look she hated apart from the one who interrogated her in that gulag. She was surprised no one tried to stop her from firing though she suspected that Price was holding them back since she seemed to be getting more of a response out of Al-Asad.

Al-Asad laughed at her. He gave a lecherous grin and said, “So magnificent and so willing to get on my good side. Have you told them what you did to even see this place?”

Price stepped in and smacked Al-Asad and demanded, “Give me a name!”

Al-Asad said something uncomplimentary about Price and his mother and got a fist in the mouth for that. Nicolette stared at the scene and waited for Price to finish. She then said in Arabic, “I know you won’t be taken alive. You would rather let us kill you but you are too fond of that egotistical spit wad you call a body. How do you think we knew you were alive?”

“You were always the smart one. Seeing everything,” Al-Asad replied. “I warned him that you were trouble but no they vouched for you. Who vouches for you now?”

“Who did you warn?” Nicolette asked, ignoring the digs at what he was implying.

“He said ‘I offer her to you. Listen to what she says.’ Of course we know what happened then.”

It was tempting to just put a bullet right between the eyes of the man. She would be free of at least him and what she had to go through to get to that point. They needed a name though and she needed one. She knew the circumstances of getting her in but she didn’t know his name only that he was referred to as the next savior of the Russian people. He knew about her from recommendations from others so…

“I want his name,” Price demanded as he gave another swing at the prisoner.

“He won’t tell us,” Nicolette replied as she looked at the man tied to the chair. He was looking at her with that look she hated.

“We’ve got plenty of time.”

“No you don’t,” Al-Asad replied in Arabic looking at Nicolette. “He may not know who you really are but I do.” He gave a knowing glance in the direction of Price. “Would you like me to tell them everything we did?”

_If the enemy knows what we did then we have failed…_

“Or you can make it go easy and tell us a name,” Nicolette replied, “Give us the name of who gave you the bomb.” She then took a few steps closer to whisper in Al-Asad’s ear, “Either way, you are a dead man and I will be there to see it.” She then said something in Arabic that she knew the man would understand.

At that moment a phone started ringing. Gaz was the one that found it and offered it to Price, “Sir, it’s his cell phone.”

Price answered it and held the phone to his ear. Nicolette and the others stood there watching while he listened to whoever it was on the other end. Nicolette looked at Al-Asad and pointed her gun to keep him from moving even though that was a bit difficult to do since she did shoot out the two front chair legs. She studied the man like she would any hard data and noted the bloodied face from all the punches down to the gear, the position and the overall look at the man. She blinked slowly as if to process everything.

At that moment Price threw down the phone and did an about face pulling his pistol out at the same time. Without hesitation he aimed and pulled the trigger, executing the prisoner. He heard Nicolette mutter something as he turned to look at the others and found MacTavish looking on with a couple of others. It was hard to ignore the conversation between their spy and Al-Asad and the cool manner in which she shot the chair legs out. Yet they were collected enough to remain silent but there really wasn’t that much to say.

The body slumped and the weight became too much and it fell over. Gaz broke the awkward silence asking, “Who was that sir?”

Price answered slowly, “Zakhaev. Imran Zakhaev.”

Nicolette looked away from the body towards Price as she put her weapon in safety. Where had she heard that name before? It was obvious that Price knew the name and very well from the look of it. Well it was obvious since the man’s reaction was to drop the phone and shoot the target and right between the eyes. Pretty hard to miss that at the range he fired. She raised her brow at Price, curious about his knowledge of the Russian connection.

Price looked at his men and then at Nicolette. At first he thought she would’ve been shocked that he just executed a lead. She was with intelligence and they had a tendency to get into a snit if they lost an asset before gaining anything useful. That didn’t seem to be the case here since she actually pulled a gun on the man and shot at him and he knew what had been said.

She was looking at him with a raised brow but there was no contempt but rather curiosity. He found her to be an enigma but so far had proven herself to be a part of a team even when put under straining circumstances. His initial suppositions were starting to prove right. He glanced at Gaz who was trying to be supportive while not sure of what to say or do and then back at Nicolette as if to ask her opinion.

She said nothing but her gaze said a lot along with the slight nod to indicate that she was willing to listen. He didn’t really want to get into it but all things considering, there wasn’t really an option for it not to be disclosed though there were some things that needed to be discussed in private with certain individuals. She was a patient person, a high mark in his book.

Seeing that there was no other recourse, Price began on his explanation, “It was near fifteen years ago. I was just a ‘Leftenant’ back then… doing some wet work.

“Chernobyl. Christmas for the bad guys. Even a decade later, lot of ‘em still used it to get their hands on nuclear material. A lot of ‘em… including one Imran Zakhaev.”

Nicolette adjusted her stance while Price told his story. She sensed that there was a lot to this story that the man was going to hide. She was not a psychologist but she could read people. One of those things that made surviving foster care bearable; you got to know what to look for.

“Of course we couldn’t just let that happen. Cash for spent fuel rods? That’s one hell of a recipe for destruction.”

 _Tell me about it. And we were more worried about the drugs and guns_ , Nicolette thought to herself. True they were bad but anything involving nuclear or biohazards in her opinion was worse. It was the kind of thing to scare people into making fallout shelters and wearing hazmat suits. The guns were terrible yes but something that could have no harness possibly… that was something else. She glanced at the men and noticed how attentive they were to Price’s story.

“It was the first time our government had authorized an assassination order since the Second World War… I was under the command of Captain MacMillan…”


	7. Chapter 7

The crickets were in full throttle with their noise. There wasn’t much to do but to keep an eye out on things while the plans for extraction were made. MacTavish did a patrol as was ordered and was doing it but didn’t like that he hadn’t seen Nicolette since the captain told the story of what he knew about Imran Zakhaev. The idea that she took off was plausible but he thought it highly unlikely since there were times she could have gone off and she didn’t.

“So what’s she like?”

MacTavish looked at his companion. It was Wallace and decided to play stupid, “What’s who like?”

“Don’t be an arse! You know damn well who I’m talking about since you’re the one who’s been keeping an eye on her.”

 _Okay so that was noticed. Shite._ MacTavish continued his patrol and said, “Just following orders. Nothing more.”

“And you’d have to be a blind idiot to not see her.”

“No but I can do my job and not notice. Keep an eye and she does her job,” MacTavish replied not really liking where this was going. “Nothing more.”

“So you know nothing?”

“Ask her yourself if you’re so bloody interested,” MacTavish snapped.

“I would but… she’s kind of scary.”

MacTavish wanted to laugh at that. Her? Scary? That was as ridiculous as her statement saying that she could shoot but not well or that she was an analyst, not an agent. He looked at Wallace and replied, “Why’s that?”

“It’s like you can’t tell what she’s thinking at times when she looks at you and the way she just pulled her weapon and fired… Course it is also very attractive.”

 _So that’s what this is about_. MacTavish was not in the mood to be the one to gossip about someone who annoyed the hell out of him though he grudgingly admitted that she was good in a firefight. She did watch his back and kept him from being ripped to shreds earlier so that did count for something. He found that he didn’t like that Wallace was expressing interest in her. She was a spy. A soldier and a spy? Not a good combination but if Wallace wanted to get burned, then not his problem. “Then go talk to her. She’ll probably pull your leg some more.”

“I’m asking you mate. You’re the only one aside from the captain she has said more than two words to.”

“And it was nothing except the job. So you want to know more? Ask her. I’m done here.” MacTavish stomped off to leave Wallace to finish looking around and keep an eye on things. It was rude and no doubt something would be said but he’d be damned if he was going to do this kiss and tell crap about her. Besides all they did was argue or she’d… insult him… if it could be called that.

He walked around and ended up tripping on something and looked down. He found it was a boot belonging to… “Shite.”

“Well hello to you too,” Nicolette replied as she pulled her stretched out leg back in. She went back to playing with the dust making symbols and drawing lines to and from, making a spider web. “You should watch where you’re going.”

“And I thought you were staying inside… like you were told.”

“You don’t boss me.”

MacTavish knew she had him on that one and she knew it too. Still he could fight on this, “But you are my responsibility and that means following my lead.”

“So you’re saying I should have followed you on patrol,” she replied with a smirk. “Make up your mind Soap. Must be the reason…” She stood up and picked up her rifle with a fluid gracefulness that a blind idiot could notice.

MacTavish merely glared. He already had Price asking him about his call sign and he didn’t say a word. Neither was he going to indulge this piss ant who was playing dumb on purpose. “Don’t even go there,” he muttered, his Scottish accent getting thicker. “You know what I mean.”

“I know,” Nicolette replied with a slow smile. “You are just plain easy.” She started walking away back towards where the captain was.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Nicolette paused in her walking and turned to look at the sergeant. She wondered if he was being daft or he was doing it just to argue. “What does what mean?”

“About me being easy?”

“If I have to explain…” She peered at MacTavish and then said, “No… You’re not that stupid. You may be a Scottish bastard but definitely not stupid.” She turned to go.

MacTavish knew that he walked into that one. He knew what she had meant and grudgingly he could admit it. He was easy to rile up… at least with her driving that bus. She was leaving and he didn’t want to let her have the last word. “Fine, I get it. You’re a pain in the ass.”

Nicolette turned on her heel to look at MacTavish. “You really need to find something better.”

MacTavish scowled, deciding it wasn’t worth it anymore. He walked past her to head back. He didn’t know why he bothered. He did manage to mutter, “Cheeky bastard.”

Nicolette grinned as she watched him head back. It was fun pushing his buttons and for the most part he started it. It was childish but… She caught up with him and said, “At least I can add another name to the list.”

MacTavish looked at her wondering if she was crazy or not. Her manner suggested she had been called names before but he had seen the look on her face when Al-Asad addressed her, like he knew her personally. He ventured, “And what about what Al-Asad called you?”

“How do you know he did?”

“You saying he didn’t?” MacTavish was familiar with calling people names. He’d done it and most people did too. There were some though that struck nerves and they weren’t tolerated very well. “You did shoot him.”

“Shot _at_ him,” Nicolette corrected, “And that was because he didn’t want to answer the question.” She adjusted her rifle. “It’s called interrogation.” She couldn’t help but be sarcastic about the whole thing.

“Something I’m sure you’re an expert in. Do you piss ‘em off while you’re at it?”

“No just you and quit trying to be nice. I like you better as an ass.” Nicolette quickened her step and headed back. She threw over her shoulder, “See? I’m going back.”

MacTavish stopped in his tracks. _Great… Now I’ve bloody pissed her off. What was Price thinking giving me this assignment?_ Sighing he moved forward to head back. He ignored the others just leaned against the wall to brood.

Nicolette knew that MacTavish was trying to be nice in his own way. At least she thought that was the case since it didn’t take a genius to figure out the gist of the conversation she had with Al-Asad. The man didn’t like her so there wasn’t a point to being nice about that. She leaned against a case that held weapons feeling bored when a lit cigarette was handed towards her.

“You look like you could use a smoke.”

Nicolette accepted it even though she wasn’t big on smoking and took a very ladylike puff. It kept her from coughing. “More like blowing smoke out my ass,” she replied and took another puff.

Price chuckled as he watched her take a puff on the cigarette. He could tell she wasn’t a fan of it but she was willing to tough it out. It was one of the reasons why he liked her; that willingness to tough it out. He joked, “And does that make you able to run along rooftops and leap off amidst fire?”

Nicolette looked at Price and could feel a slight burning in her ears. She grinned a little and replied, “So I guess my secret’s out. I like scaling buildings for fun.” She looked forward and took another puff. “Then again it was better than getting cut to ribbons.”

“Not bad for someone who sits behind a desk.”

“Just had a feeling… and when you see that shit every day in the city you’re hiding out in… you get a feel for it.” She held the cigarette out to Price so he could take it. “You seem to know that too, Captain.”

Price accepted the cigarette, “And you looked more like an eager youngster getting a story on your dad’s knee.”

“I love a good story old man,” Nicolette replied, not put out one bit by the soldier’s demeanor. “Besides old folk love to tell stories.” She gave a grin as she said that.

“Cheeky little Muppet.”

“You’re not the first to call me that.”

“Cheeky or Muppet?”

“Both,” Nicolette replied with a cheeky grin knowing that ever since she hooked up with this unit she had been called that. She leaned against the crate and just looked around and noticed the remains of the splintered chair and made a slight pursing of her lips.

Price puffed on the cigarette and looked in the direction she was looking at. He said, “Shoot pretty good.”

“Close range you usually are unless you are that bad. I just regret that he didn’t talk after that.”

“Hmm.” Price put out the butt. “He did seem to want to babble at you Muppet.”

“We have history. Big surprise that I turn up with the group sent to capture him,” Nicolette offered with a shrug. “Of course it is something to get into a conversation about.”

“Not from where I was standing.” Price waited until she was looking at him before continuing, “I know he said some nasty things to you. I could tell you wanted to kill him.”

Nicolette’s lip twitched slightly. It was tempting to deny it but the man knew what she thought or could take an accurate guess. She couldn’t and didn’t want to lie about it. “I did but I didn’t. Probably my training to bring in a high profile alive.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t say anything.”

“He deserved it,” Nicolette offered with a shrug. “Besides he would have died fighting off the Americans if there was no bomb. He may favor his skin but he also had this thing about honor.” She made a spitting sound and actually spit on the ground. She even stomped her toe in the ground and lifted her foot to show the bottom of her boot. “Either way his death will leave room for more democratically minded individuals, which should make the western world happy, to step in. Time to move east and cut the other head off.”

“You seem sure about it.”

“I’m an analyst,” Nicolette replied giving a smirk. “Political logistics,” she said making a slight eye roll with a dry chuckle. “When I analyze I take all factors including history and in between I gather intelligence and end up in a prison in the middle of Russian territory and rescued by SAS. Small world I think,” she summed up.

Price chuckled at that, “More likely you fell in.”

“Not to mention getting stuck with a stick up his ass body guard.”

It would have continued until Gaz interrupted regarding the transmission, “ETA on the chopper at least a half hour, Captain Price.” He took no notice as Nicolette straightened up and moved discreetly away.

Price noticed though and noted how she had given enough space but she was also close by to hear anything. He figured it was the spy thing she did. He turned his attention towards Gaz and replied, “No good. We’ll be corpses for ten minutes by then.”

“You’re right Captain,” Nicolette entered in softly. She knew that she was interfering to some degree but this was what she knew. “Every Ultranationalist in Zakhaev’s pocket is about to show up on our doorstep try to claim Al-Asad. Alliances united by hatred are fragile.”

“Or they’ll take what’s left of him,” Gaza said as he motioned for the squad to bring it in.

Price nodded as Nicolette looked away as if to keep guard while still listening. MacTavish had moved to stand nearby and it looked like they were ignoring each other. “Right. We’ll set charges along phase line Alpha on the southern hill and more along phase line Bravo. We’ll delay them all the way back to the top and hold our ground at the extraction points in the fields around the farm. Any questions?”

It was not really necessary since there were none except for the unspoken one. That was whether or not their impromptu addition understood what the plan was. No one asked since it was likely the captain wouldn’t answer. They were right since Price wouldn’t have answered. There was a reason MacTavish had been assigned to keep an eye on her and she held her own very well. It was evident when she said, “Let’s do this.”

****

“Are you trying to dislocate your shoulder? Or are you doing this on purpose?” MacTavish glanced at Nicolette as she reloaded her rifle and brought it up to aim down the ridge at the Ultranationalists firing at them. She had placed it a bit high and the recoil could damage her shoulder if she kept it like that. He had to ask since she was the one insisting that she didn’t have the first damn clue of what she was doing.

Nicolette made the adjustment as necessary and replied, “Cut me some slack.” She fired at the enemy and took out a couple of what she could see. “Just a little slip. I’m sure you’ve had ‘em.”

MacTavish could name a few fuck ups he had. One came to mind especially when Price had asked him how he managed to pass Selection. The sad thing was that it had been uttered the same way by the drill sergeant except it was more along the lines of how’d he managed to make it that far in Selection.

Nicolette glanced over at the Scottish sergeant and noticed the look on his face before it changed to aim down his sights and fire at the incoming enemy. She was not a soldier but Kyle had often told her the ‘horror’ stories of going through boot camp and how they drill sergeants were at you to break you down and build you up. Some ended up good hiding their insecurities and learned how to deal. It was something to think about and certainly something she was sure that he wouldn’t talk to her about. Still she managed to say, “Every mission I’ve done has had a fuck up and they don’t fail to let me know.”

MacTavish managed to spare a glance. It was very uncharacteristic of her to say something like that and when she turned to look at him… He looked away and concentrated on holding the line. They had to keep the area clear in order to secure their LZ for extraction. He adjusted his position and crawled forward on his stomach to get a better look and felt the bullets whizz past him.

Nicolette felt her lip twitch as he ignored her in a grin. When Kyle used to complain, she would always say that she screwed up worse than he did on whatever she was doing and managed to succeed. It would piss Kyle off since when he tried to fix things, they only got worse and he would try harder. Later he would grudgingly thank her for pulling him out of his dump and he would go back for more from his unit. With MacTavish she didn’t expect that but she did notice that he was taking out more hostiles with startling accuracy. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she continued to fire on the hostiles, aiming down the sights and firing.

_Soap, get to the mini gun and cover the western flank._

MacTavish was on his feet still crouched low and prepared to make his way to the mini gun. He looked at Nicolette and said, “Stay with the squad.”

“Make me.”

 “Just stay,” MacTavish said making it clear that she was to stay put. He turned and headed to where the mini gun was mounted.

The chopper mini gun was locked and loaded even though the chopper was a pile of shit. MacTavish cranked it up and turned it to the southwest to defend the flank. The sudden explosions told him that hostiles had hit the second set of charges they had set so he aimed and prepared to fire. It was always nice to have the bigger gun available but you still had to aim especially when you had limited ammo. So he took his time and aimed what he could see and hit.

He was so busy covering, he didn’t see the two hostiles that managed to stay out of his line of sight and converge on his position. It was only when he heard a grunt along with a popping sound that he turned over his shoulder. He saw Nicolette twisting the gun arm of a hostile in the wrong direction so it was sure to have been broken and she gave a series of three backhands until the hostile was down and she broke his neck by stomping on it. She pulled her pistol out when the other got up to try and attack. The double tap to the chest put him out for good.

MacTavish didn’t have much to think about it since she shouted, “I think you better cover the flank.”

He went back to his job and said, “I thought I told you to stay put.”

“And since when would I ever listen to you?” Nicolette held her rifle up and covered while MacTavish fired with the mini gun. “Besides, Gaz is no fun.”

MacTavish snorted at that. He kept firing and listening over his radio for news of what was going on. “So I’m here for your entertainment.”

“Haven’t let me down yet.” Nicolette felt her lip twitch in a grin as she covered the Scottish sergeant. She then spotted the choppers. “Choppers, three of them.”

MacTavish swung the massive gun to aim and fired while Nicolette fired on the incoming hostiles to slow them down. The mini gun was powerful enough to take down the choppers but he had to pause in between since that thing got hot and if it got too hot… Not a good thing.

_Soap, fall back to the tavern and man the detonators._

It was hard to hear Price’s voice over the radio with all the firing and there was still one heli to go. MacTavish swerved the gun and aimed at the last chopper. He kept up the spray of bullets until he saw that the heli was going down.

“And here I was thinking I wasted bullets,” Nicolette commented with a wry grin.

MacTavish looked at her and retorted, “You still do.”

“Like I said, I’m a lousy shot.”

MacTavish glanced at the dead hostile with two holes in his chest and then back at her. “Says you.”

“And you still don’t believe me,” Nicolette countered in mock exasperation. “I _am_ just an analyst.”

“In a pig’s eye.”

“Soap, get off the mini gun. We’re falling back!” Gaz’s British tones were loud enough to be heard from the tavern where MacTavish was supposed to be.

Nicolette looked at the retreating squad and said, “I guess that’s our cue.”

“Do you always have a comment for everything?” MacTavish grunted as he jumped out of the chopper and picked up his gun.

“Depends on the situation,” Nicolette countered as she started to follow the rest of the squad. There was no need to turn around and fire back until some cover was found but that didn’t make the hissing and snapping stop and any less frightening if the fear took over. She just ran to keep up but stayed within a reasonable distance to cover MacTavish since he was right behind her.

Having been in a firefight once or twice before, Nicolette knew how hard it was to hear over the explosions and gun fire even when you shouted at the top of your lungs. She marveled that Captain Price was able to be heard over the noise and heard him bellowing at the both of them to get moving or they would be left behind. She glanced behind her to see MacTavish using a few of his claymores to leave behind a few surprises. She ended up halting and returned fire to cover while he planted them and ran to catch up. He ended up slipping and fell hard. It was instant reaction on her part.

Running forward and firing, she managed to grab the back part of the shoulder of MacTavish’s vest and started pulling while moving back. “Come on. Get your heavy Scottish ass up,” she grunted while firing and pulling at the same time.

MacTavish hadn’t meant to slip but his boot hit a rock hidden in the grass and it rolled. With his balance off, he landed hard and felt rubble dig into his abdomen effectively winding him. The air rushed out of his lungs and it had become a certainty that he was going to be left behind… as a corpse.

It was a complete surprised when something popped loud over his head and the shoulder to his vest was being yanked hard. It was hard enough to drag him across the ground. Then he heard _her_ telling him to get his ass up. Looking up he saw her tugging him and firing at the same time. It was a bit shocking since she didn’t look like she could haul Price’s weight all geared up. It spurred him into action though and while she was dragging him, he managed to get his feet under him and back into a position to run.

“Come on, lazy ass.”

MacTavish grunted, “I’m up, nag.”

Together they ran towards the tavern to take cover. MacTavish heard Price over the wire to use the detonators. Outside there was an explosion and it appeared one of his claymores had been tripped. He went to where the first of the detonators were and picked it up. Diversion now.


	8. Chapter 8

_Mac’s in trouble! Soap! Get to the barn at the northern end of the village and stop those tanks! Use the Javelin in the barn!_

The detonators provided some relief as it slowed the enemy down. It was a bitch to get to them all since they were being fired upon. The wood from the tavern walls splintered from bullet impacts sending debris flying. The small bits could easily get into the eyes but that wasn’t the problem. The problem at the moment was that MacTavish was pinned down upstairs and he had lost sight of Nicolette who was covering his six.

She had followed him and fired until he could reach the detonators one by one. When he went to get the last one, there was a grenade explosion. He didn’t think much of it except that he set off the last of the detonators. That was then that he realized that Nicolette was not with him and he realized that she might be downstairs and…

As much as she was a pain in the ass, she was member of the team and no one got left behind. Taking the change in the lull, he headed downstairs and found charred remains of burnt buildings. There was no body though. _Bloody hell._

“Fall back! Fall back!”

MacTavish didn’t know what to do except to follow orders. She wasn’t there so probably she was making her way back to the barn. He knew he had to haul ass to get there. They had bloody damn tanks on their asses now and the only thing that could take them out was the javelin in the barn. Sighing in resignation and actually hoping she got out, he headed out of the tavern.

The bullets were flying and it was a wonder that he wasn’t hit. He raced up what was left of the stairs nearby and found himself face to face with Nicolette. Her face was black from smoke and ash mixed in with the camouflage paint. She was pointing behind him with her rifle and firing, keeping up the barrage of fire.

“Don’t wait on my account, Soap. Get to the barn.”

MacTavish obeyed instantly as he continued to make his way to the barn with Nicolette following behind and covering. It was a relief that she appeared to be functioning and okay for the most part. He replied, “Just keep close Nanny.”

They made it back to the barn. MacTavish went to grab the javelin to take out the tanks. Nicolette made her way to where Mac was and offered help in patching him up. It was a nasty one to the leg. Even though the team medic was there, she offered a hand and pulled out gauze to staunch the bleeding.

“You gonna drag me out too?” Mac grinned as he grimaced from the pain.

“More likely haul your ass up and make you run,” Nicolette replied as she finished what she was doing. “How we doing, Doc?”

Mac chuckled at Nicolette. He had a mental comparison of her and Price and wondered if they were cut from the same mold or related in some distant fashion. He looked at the injury he sustained and admitted that at least he could say a pretty face was in the picture.

“Can you fire?”

Mac looked at Nicolette and nodded while she handed him his weapon. He reached up, “Give me a boost.”

Nicolette grabbed Mac by the wrist and hauled him up. “Come on then. Get your heavy ass up.”

“Said the same thing to Soap?”

Nicolette shot a look at Mac before reloading and looking back out. “I say it to all the heavy asses I have to drag out of trouble,” she muttered before starting back out again to go and cover MacTavish.

Mac lifted his weapon and began to fire what he could see and hit. He couldn’t help but grin at that. He was starting to like her and she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. That was a bonus in his mind considering that the team wasn’t sure of what to make of her except that she could be damn scary when she was in the mood like when she coolly shot at Al-Asad. He lifted his weapon and hobbled to an advantage point and returned fire.

MacTavish had managed to locate and take out two of the tanks with the javelin. That didn’t help much in the barrage of fire but it helped in reducing the impact of tanks kicking their asses. He turned to see Nicolette running back towards him and managed to not roll his eyes as he demanded, “Where the fuck did you go?”

“Man down, stupid. I was helping,” Nicolette replied as she spotted another tank. “Tank there.”

MacTavish hauled up the javelin and aimed. Once he got a lock, he fired. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Like I said. Man down. I was helping. Nothing you wouldn’t do.”

MacTavish couldn’t argue with that. They had to move to locate the last of the tanks. It felt cumbersome since his gun was slung over his shoulders and he was carrying the heavy javelin while running. It made him feel like a girl considering that one was taking the lead to the new spot but he kept up and they made it. He could see Price taking cover by the fence as he aimed through the scope and fired once it locked on.

“Nice shooting Tex.”

“Do you have a comment for everything?”

“Didn’t you ask that before?” Nicolette smirked as she kept up the fire when she caught sight of a target. “Though I suppose compliments aren’t standard issue for you.”

MacTavish gave a slight eye roll as he lowered the javelin and brought his gun up. It was a compliment; he wasn’t that stupid. He just didn’t know what to make of it coming from his charge since she was inclined to say something not so complimentary or goad him into an argument. He finally replied, “They aren’t,” playing into her comment and it showed with a wry grin.

Nicolette was a bit shocked that he said that and the shock turned into a grin. In her mind it was a sign or some sort. She replied, “Good. Because I like it when you play the ass.”

“Atcher service Yank.”

_Bravo Six, this is Falcon One standing by to provide close air support, over._

That was MacTavish’s cue to give the coordinates and he relayed them in after moving to get into better position to see where he needed the air support. He peered over the edge of where he had taken cover and signaled for the air support. There was a lot of smoke and debris around but he was confident that he could get them.

“Try not to just hit the ground,” Nicolette teased.

_Bravo Six, this is Gryphon Two-Seven. We’ve just crossed into Azerbaijan airspace. ETA is four minutes. Be ready for pickup._

MacTavish took cover when some shots were sent there way and muttered, “We’ve been ready,” in response to the call over the radio.

“I know holding hands and trying to make nice,” Nicolette added.

MacTavish looked at her and almost wanted to laugh at that. “Cold day in hell,” he muttered.

“It is cold. It’s winter,” Nicolette pointed out as she returned fire.

_Bravo Six, the LZ is too hot! We cannot land at the farm! I repeat, we CANNOT land at the farm! We’re picking up SAM sites all over these mountains._

“Oh that’s just great! Where the hell are they gonna land now?” Gaz was sounding pissed at that revelation and he had a right to be. If the pickup couldn’t get in, then how the hell were they going to get out?

MacTavish grunted when the wood exploded in front of his face. Instinctively he pulled down Nicolette to take cover and put his body over hers. He shook his head since some wood hit him square in the face and he blinked to make sure nothing was in his eyes. When he was sure, he released Nicolette and reloaded his weapon like nothing happened.

 Nicolette took it for what it was and reloaded her weapon. Normally she would have said something but now wasn’t the time. They had a pickup waiting but no LZ. That was so fucking great. Tactically they were screwed if they didn’t come up with something, meaning that they were dead meat.

_Bravo Six, we’re getting a lot of enemy radar signatures. We’ll try to land closer to the bottom of the hill to avoid a lock on._

_Oh that’s fucking great_ , Nicolette thought as she heard the transmission. That was going to go over real nice with the others. It was evident when Gaz shouted, “Is he takin’ the piss? We just busted our asses to get to the LZ and now they want us to go all the way back down?!”

“Forget it Gaz! We’ve got to get to the new LZ at the bottom of the hill! Now! Soap! Take point! Go!” Price was signaling towards MacTavish as he relayed his orders.

 MacTavish readied his rifle to go and glanced at Nicolette, “Are you going to listen this time and stay with the others?”

“Do you honestly want the answer to that?”

MacTavish knew what the answer was going to be and didn’t reply except for a small shake of his head. While admirable it did seem foolish and made his job a lot harder considering he was under orders to keep her alive. He toyed with the idea of telling her that just to see if she would listen to him and stay behind but abandoned it immediately. They had to get to the bottom of the hill for extraction. He took pointed and started down.

_Bravo Six, be advised: we’re gonna come in low from the south across the river. Recommend you haul ass to LZ Foxtrot at the base of the hill. Out._

_Haul ass it is_ , MacTavish replied as he led the way, taking point and shooting at anything trying to shoot at them. It was rather a bitch to do since they spent all that time getting to the LZ at the farm and then they had to go through that shit again to get to the bottom of the hill.

“Best laid plans get laid to hell,” Nicolette murmured as she kept it tight behind MacTavish. It seemed that they were going to get aggressive. They certainly didn’t hold back with the RPG that missed by a mile. “And yet still standing.”

MacTavish pushed on confident that she was following and it was confirmed when he had to reload and he was in the line of fire of a hostile. She took him out and advanced to stay tight in. he threw a couple of grenades since it seemed that more were coming. It bought him time to reload and lock and load.

_Bravo Six be advised we are almost there but we’re low on fuel. You guys have three minutes before we have to leave without you. Over._

“NFS,” Nicolette spat. At MacTavish’s look she said, “No fucking shit.”

“Okay.” That made sense to MacTavish and he wasn’t going to complain.

They continued the charge in clearing the way for the rest of the team even with Gaz shouting, “We’re gonna get left behind! We got to get to the landing zone!”

_Bravo Six, this is Falcon One standing by to provide close air support, over._

“That’s your cue,” Nicolette urged MacTavish as she fired at two more hostiles. “Maybe where they have an RPG.”

“I know what I’m doing,” MacTavish snapped as he looked for the coordinates and gave them. They didn’t need an RPG taking out their ride and that would have been a problem.

“Just trying to help you out.”

“Then help by covering.”

_You got two minutes, over._

It was cutting the time short to get there. Nicolette could make out the rest of the team coming down the hill. Even Mac was hobbling and shooting. That was a good thing. She continued to cover MacTavish as they made their way down the hill to clear it. He called in coordinates to take out the majority of the lines that were waiting for them.

_Ninety second to dust off._

“Great timing,” Nicolette muttered as they rounded the building. They had to hold off fire until the chopper landed and there were some firing in the direction of the rest of the team. “And more shit.”

MacTavish was in agreement there and fired on the camped out hostiles. They fired and they really didn’t have much cover except for the building and running in zig-zag motions. MacTavish saw the RPG at his eleven o’clock and aimed when something exploded nearby. He was knocked off his feet and otherwise unhurt even though Nicolette had come in close to cover. He had just gotten to his knees when he saw the other RPG firing.

It was instinctive to grab her and take cover behind a small hill mound. He pushed her down and got on top when the projectile hit. He could feel the concussion in the ground and felt the dirt flying and hitting. He felt an elbow hit his gut followed by, “Can you not be so enthusiastic?”

He got up and fired to take out the hostile that fired the RPG and replied, “You okay?” he looked down at her.

“Peachy,” Nicolette replied as she coughed the dirt that had gone down her throat. She picked up her weapon again and fired. “Just remember that this isn’t rugby,” she added as she moved to take out a few more hostiles.

The chopper made the landing and was waiting. Price and the others were coming but MacTavish kept firing even though they were getting cover fire. He managed to call in the last of the coordinates to fire as the team got onto the chopper. He ended up pushing Nicolette into the chopper and was followed by the cover team.

_Okay we’re outta here. Baseplate, this is Gryphon Two-Seven. We’ve got ‘em and we’re coming home, out._

****

“You look like shit.”

Nicolette gave a glare at the medic as she let herself be inspected. Apparently setting your own finger inside of a chopper wasn’t considered adequate. When they were seated in the chopper that was when she felt something off about her finger. She pulled off her left glove and found her middle finger in an awkward position. She hadn’t noticed it before and owed it to the adrenaline rush from shooting to stay alive.

It was obvious that her middle finger had been broken and she spent a good minute looking at it like it was an interesting thing she had picked up. Then making a face, she grabbed her finger and with a twist and pop, she set the bone right in front of the men. The only sound she ever made was a slight grunt from the pain of the pop but it was gone afterwards. She ended up wagging her finger afterwards to test its movement. That still had her sent to the infirmary to have it checked out.

The medic took a look and made his comment about her looking like shit and inspected her finger. He made a show of feeling the bone and ended up saying, “Nice set job.”

“Well I’m glad that you approve. Did I need to go here?” Nicolette raised her brow as the medic attached a small stick splint. “How long on the splint?”

“Oh it’s more for peace of mind. Before next mission you can ditch it,” the medic replied with a grin. “Certainly you will have something to say.”

It was a bit of laughter when Nicolette took the splinted finger and gave a very good version of flipping the bird at the medic. She was giving a grin as she was doing it when she gave a slight wince. Looking down on her right she frowned and touched with her right hand and came away with blood. “Oh shit.”

The medic had pounced on her and made her lift her black shirt to reveal a large shallow gash. It had started bleeding when it snagged on the fabric. It looked like it hit the side where there was no armor on the vest and it was a graze. The medic was fussing over it and getting antiseptic to clean it. Nicolette couldn’t help but roll her eyes and say, “Give me peroxide and a clean bandage and I’ll take care of it.”

“Who’s the medic here? Me or you?”

Nicolette didn’t say anything and turned around so her back was to the door. It was awkward to hold her shirt up but she clenched the rolled up ends under her arms and angled it so her breasts were covered. She could make out Mac getting treated for his leg somewhere since she could hear his laughter. No doubt he heard what she said to the medic and that was what he was laughing about. It really wasn’t a big deal but she wasn’t going to argue anymore. Besides she suspected that Price had something to say about this.

It was short work to clean out the gash and patch it up. She said, “See. I could have done it.”

“Maybe so,” the medic allowed. He finished taping off the gauze and gave a tap to the area.

“Sadist,” Nicolette said after making a slight face. She rolled down her shirt and jumped off the table. She gave a wry grin that was also a thank you to the medic.

“I do my best.”

Nicolette flipped him off with her splinted finger to earn another laugh and left the infirmary. A temporary locker room had been made for her and an extra set of clothes for her and she headed towards there when she ran into MacTavish. She collided with his chest and heard the grunt but it wasn’t like the other grunts. Still she said in a teasing tone, “Whoa there. We’re not playing rugby again.”

“It’s called taking cover,” MacTavish replied as he rubbed where he got hit. He had been on his way to the infirmary for a check when she ran into him and now he was trying to not let that on. “Sorry for not letting you get blown up.”

“I appreciate it,” Nicolette replied, “A way of saying thank you for hauling your heavy ass off the ground.” She observed his motions and decided to play it like she would Kyle when he got hurt. In short she was playing a hunch.

“I didn’t ask you to,” MacTavish countered, wishing she would go away.

“And I’m sure slipping on a rock was on purpose.” Nicolette gave a hard pat to his shoulder that was almost a punch with her good hand. It came away with blood on her knuckle and held it up for MacTavish to see. “I suppose shooting at close range does that huh?”

MacTavish inwardly kicked himself. He wanted to avoid seeing her and just get checked out. He had waited until he was sure the medic was done with her before heading down since he had noticed the pain in his shoulder and a touch revealed blood. He didn’t even feel it until after taking off his gear. He had ended up listening to the others comment about her setting her finger like it was nothing. There was some speculation as to how she got her finger broken.

Price settled it by saying that she took it like a trooper and they should shut up about it more or less. MacTavish said nothing like the others and went about his business. Now he was stuck and she found him out. He looked at her bloodied knuckle and said, “It happens.”

“Well the sadist in there is open,” Nicolette said as she wiped off the blood off onto her trousers. “Have fun.” She gave a slight grin and started to walk away.

“It’s nothing.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Soap.” She turned to give a grin and gave a mock salute with her left. “Just remember to have a punch ready for when the sadist pisses you off. I’d have done it but I’m on lock down so to speak.”

MacTavish looked at her as she grinned at him. He noted the splint that looked ridiculous on her finger. He replied, “Or you like leaving others to do it for you.”

“Oh I take care of my own Soap,” Nicolette replied as she lowered her hand. “I take care of my own.” She turned to walk away leaving him to get his shoulder attended to.

MacTavish blinked and watched her leave before heading to the infirmary. There he was treated to a lecture on about delaying treatment of gunshot wounds even if it was a piece of shrapnel or part of a bullet. He was subject to pain after getting it patched up by deliberate poking and he could understand why Nicolette called him a sadist. It didn’t get any better when the medic noticed his abdomen and that became something else as he endured the ‘torture’ that followed with that.

In the meantime Nicolette had changed out of her shirt to a new one. There was probably debriefing going on right now so she was not needed unless they wanted her input. She wasn’t really anxious to tell SAS superiors the rundown that she knew Al-Asad and her part in the unsuccessful attempt at getting information. Actually what she really wasn’t anxious for was Price to seek her out and ask her about knowing the man and what he meant.

She managed to find someplace where there was quiet and just sat on top of a jeep hood and looked out at the landscape. She felt exhausted from the whole thing and yet there was still a lot to do. Sighing she reached into the deeper pocket in her cargo pants and pulled out the one thing that would have even her brother laughing at her. She smiled as she looked at the leather bound book on her lap held closed with an elastic band.

Sitting on the hood of the jeep she opened her journal to where the pencil held her place. Glancing at her watch thing that Jensen sent, she noted the time and bent to write just a few thoughts. She paused to thumb through older stuff until she came to the entry when she made her jump from analyst to field operative. She reread her thoughts and fears about the whole thing and almost wanted to laugh at that and continued until she reached the entry when she first met Al-Asad and she paused before flipping back to where she was starting to write and picked up the pencil and began to write the first thing that came to mind.

She had finished writing and had put her journal away when the familiar tones of MacTavish sounded forth, “Are you deliberately trying to be a pain in the ass?”

Nicolette looked at the sergeant and noted that he wasn’t exactly annoyed but he wasn’t happy either and replied, “If it were deliberate, believe me… you would know. Or maybe you have.” She gave a sweet smile.

MacTavish glared but there was no heat in it. He rotated his shoulder and said, “Or it’s just you.”

“Very good Soap.” Nicolette sighed and asked, “So what is it this time?”

“Chow.” MacTavish gestured towards a building. He gave an explanation, “Orders for you.”

Nicolette nodded, “Alright. Lead the way.”


	9. Chapter 9

_The hideout was rather opulent for something designated to be a place of retreat. Then again the man liked to bathe in luxury even though he was all about getting rid of western influence. There was also the possibility of the attempt at making a good impression on the guests. After all money was power in this case._

_Nicolette looked around the place patiently waiting. She had been working for nearly a year to get this close to the one she predicted would take the plunge and instigate a coup. She had used her connections with the Ultranationalists and was able to be a part of the delegation to meet with Al-Asad about the future._

_“You are very patient my dear. I knew bringing you was a good plan.”_

_Nicolette looked at the man she had accompanied. He was smiling at her with a sort of longing in his eyes. She regretted that she even used that route but she was to use what she could. She just hated playing someone like that; it made_ her _feel like a whore even though their relationship hadn’t progressed that far. She smiled back and replied putting a hand on his face, “This is about the future of Russia. Finally the motherland will return to the glory she deserves.”_

_He smiled at her as she stroked his cheek. His hand covered hers and caressed it. “You always think of the future my love. It makes me wonder if you think about more than just the future of our country.” He stepped forward to look at her in the eye._

_Nicolette gave a slight smile, “It is a dream about the motherland. About us… a future in that motherland that we shall bring about together.” She had her fingers figuratively crossed behind her back since this was all part of the job. She played him to get close and made the connections but they wanted more proof._

_He smiled and brought her in close for a kiss. It was bearable but there was no feeling or anything. It was all part of the job and she loathed to think of what would happen when the ‘relationship’ was over. She knew how he was and he thought she didn’t know. It was like he was protecting her, keeping her as the ideals that they were fighting for._

_They kissed for about few minutes until it was announced that Al-Asad was arriving. They broke apart and stood waiting. They were greeted and she was subject to the visual undressing by Al-Asad. It caused tension in the room since the two men warred at the way she was being looked at. She managed to keep the meeting on track and they made the deal. In the end she was promised as a liaison between the Ultranationalists and Al-Asad. That was when the trouble started…_

_It was a life of luxury while she looked for information on how close the two groups were as well as the plans Al-Asad had. She found out his plans for the coup and relayed that to her contact. It was humiliating to endure what would constitute as sexual harassment with Al-Asad touching her and brushing her locks. She kept it professional as best as she could but the man was insistent on touching her and then the way he would visually undress her… She hated it but gritted her teeth. If she complained then it would be all over._

_Then there was the info on the barge in the Bering Strait. As far as she could make out it was for a weapon that would reveal the might of the alliance. She figured out it was a nuclear weapon and sent it to her contact back east. She was certain that she had been careful. She had done everything to make sure that she was one of the Ultranationalists without trying to compromise her integrity. It was a true test of character. Then she was captured by one of the Ultranationalists. He called her a traitor to the cause…_

MacTavish studied Nicolette as her shoulders shuddered in her sleep. She had not eaten much and opted for sleep. She made a point of at least telling him where to find her teasing him about the babysitter needing to keep an eye on things. It had him grumble slightly at that and he said something about spies hiding in the corners. He regretted it the instant he said it but she said, “I know. How else is the hammer supposed to know where to strike?”

It had him feeling like an ass as he retorted, “I’m not a hammer.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” She then told him where she was going and what she was going to do and left.

He had checked on her a couple of times but didn’t go near her. His thinking was that she would wake up if he came near and start on another verbal war or worse she would attack him. He even managed to catch a couple of hours. That was until he was awakened by the captain himself saying, “Soap.”

MacTavish was on his feet and trying not to appear sleepy. “Sir?” He ended up wincing slightly since his shoulder was still sore.

“I’m sorry, did I interrupt your beauty sleep?”

“No sir.”

Price peered at him before saying, “We’ve got some company from our American friends. I need you to find our addition. Find that Muppet, Nico.”

So that’s what had him looking at her for the past five minutes. He was supposed to wake her and get her into the ops command for the next mission and he wasn’t looking forward to it. As it were, he’d rather get ambushed by her or even take the humiliation of her knocking him over a banister railing again than wake her.

Looking at her though, he felt a bit sorry at her twitching. No doubt she was going through something that was a bad memory and twisted into something darker. Taking it like a man and willing to face whatever she would dish out, he tentatively reached out and tapped her shoulder.

She ended up shrugging him off like he was a bothersome fly and slapping his hand. MacTavish didn’t want to be mean about it but he had to get her awake. He tapped a bit harder and said loudly, “Wake up you bloody Yank.”

It produced a reaction since he touched her on her upper arm near her chest. She reached out and grabbed him by his forearm and yanked him forward gave a hard shin to his chest, right in the diaphragm. It caused MacTavish to lose air but he pulled back and unfortunately she didn’t let him go and she was yanked to her feet and her free hand was curled in a fist and coming right at him.

MacTavish blocked and said, “It’s me!”

Nicolette was wide awake at that moment but when MacTavish shook her awake, she was thinking that she was still running from her captors. She reacted with that sudden move but realized who it was the moment she heard him grunt. She had a tight grip on his forearm and ended up being yanked to her feet. The motion had thrown her off balance so it looked like she was going to hit him again until he blocked her and identified himself. She retaliated by flipping him over onto his back and said, “I know.” She bent over with her hands on her knees.

MacTavish glared up at her as he lay on the hard pavement. He couldn’t resist and while he said, “Fine,” he swung his leg and swept both her legs out from underneath to knock her to the ground.

It ended up being a mistake since she twisted her body and she landed on top of him. She still hit hard though on the ground and she felt it on her side having landed on her injured side. She was laughing though which had MacTavish wonder if she was going crazy or not and demanded, “What’s so funny?”

Nicolette took a deep breath while her head and shoulders where lying on top of MacTavish’s torso to take a breath from her laughing. She shook her head as she sat up and looked at MacTavish and answered, “Nice move.”

MacTavish ended up staring at her as she pressed her hand on his abdomen, on purpose, to prop herself to get to her feet. She offered a hand and grudgingly took it, surprised to hear her say, “Nice way of trying to get the last word, Soap. That was fun.”

“You call that fun?”

Nicolette looked at the man as he stared at her incredulously. She shrugged her shoulders and replied, “I may be an analyst but hand to hand is what I am good at. Most would have just stayed down. You didn’t.”

“Uh… thanks?” MacTavish had no clue as to what to say about that. He couldn’t tell if it was a compliment or not.

“Don’t try too hard. You’ll hurt yourself,” Nicolette replied as she took in the look on MacTavish’s face. She sobered quickly asked, “So why are you playing message boy again?”

“Captain Price wants you in command,” MacTavish answered automatically.

“Lead the way then,” Nicolette replied making room for MacTavish to move forward. She looked at her finger and noted the splint was still on it and inspected it.

“Finger okay?”

Nicolette glanced at the sergeant who was looking ahead, having missed his glance when she was inspecting her finger. She played with it and replied, “Oh it’s fine. I don’t need this fucking splint but it appeases the sadist. It’s nothing compared to a wrist.”

“You know something about that?” MacTavish thought she was making conversation for the hell of it and just asked thinking she would mess with him.

“Broke it during gym in school and still managed to score the winning goal in soccer,” Nicolette replied. She didn’t add that she had managed to do a standing back flip in victory after that. That was bragging and she didn’t know MacTavish well enough to tell him that.

MacTavish looked at her, not sure if she was kidding but given the fact that she had broken her finger while in the middle of a fight and managed to set it without so much as a grunt… There was more to her and he was willing to admit it just not to her face. That was going to be more trouble than it was worth in the end and yet he found himself wondering what would happen. _Shite, I am a crazy blighter if I want to even guess what she’d do._

“What kind of a name is Soap?”

It was like hearing Price ask him except it wasn’t in that condescending tone. MacTavish looked at her and asked, “Why do you want to know?”

Nicolette shrugged her shoulders since it was no big deal but his reaction had her curious and figured someone else had asked the same question. “Just curious since I’ve heard stranger call signs.”

“Long story and no I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh I get it. It’s one of those names that came with pranking the new guy right?” It was a guess on Nicolette’s part and it was most logical. The only thing she had to fall back on were Kyle’s letters about boot and the crazy shit they did to each other. The sudden flush of embarrassment that overcame her escort’s face told her enough and she responded to it, “So it was a prank on the new guy.”

“Fine. Yes but I’m still not saying a word.”

“Don’t have to. It had to have been pretty funny for you to look like you got caught with your pants down.”

“It wasn’t,” MacTavish replied now wishing the earth would swallow him whole. Any second he would end up telling her.

Nicolette got the feeling something akin to her comment was the case. As much as it would have been fun to tease him about it, she knew a thing or two about pride. She remembered a rather embarrassing moment in high school and that she barely managed to make into a joke that she could laugh at but she got it. She relented and said, “FNGs are fun to pick on but the best pranks are if you get the ones doing the pranking back and it’s one that no one forgets. So I have heard.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“And why do I get the feeling you know what it is you’re talking about?” MacTavish felt the heat die away and relieved that she wasn’t going to press on the matter.

“Everyone is an FNG at some point. Even in school.” Nicolette managed to give a grin. It was gone the moment they got near command.

“Hey Nico how’s the finger?”

Nicolette gave a halfhearted attempt at flipping the bird to the soldier that asked. She figured it was Wallace. He was likeable but not to the point of having serious fun with. She would joke yes but more out of politeness. She gave a slight smile when guffawing erupted from her gesture and countered with an ‘oh well’ shrug. She muttered, “That one will never get old.”

“Maybe… maybe not,” MacTavish responded. He certainly wanted to grin at the look Wallace got on his face when she flipped him off. It was short lived by all the laughing and it seemed that the team was getting used to her. When they stopped at command, he said, “In you go.”

“Oh cry me a river Scotty,” Nicolette offered as she went in. She paused and said, “Don’t wait up honey.”

“Shut up.”

****

Briefing and collaboration was a given in a command meeting. Nicolette had been through them before. It was just a matter of deciding a plan of action and how to carry it out. It was surprise that her countrymen were there but perhaps not too big of a surprise considering the events of the past few days. Captain Price introduced her to Staff Sgt. Griggs, “This is Nico our liaison with American intelligence.”

The staff sergeant gave her a peculiar look before saying, “Nice to see someone still working the intelligence angle.”

“I do what I can,” Nicolette offered. She wasn’t sure why the Marine looked at her like he did since she hadn’t seen him before and wondered if they had met while she was pulling a cover. She kept quiet while everyone brought was what know about the events that had happened even though Price tried to encourage her to talk.

“Well we’ve got that bastard,” Staff Sergeant Griggs was saying about Al-Asad.

“Still he’s not the one responsible for killing your Marines. Sorry mate,” Price offered as he glanced at Nicolette staring at the photos of the targets implicated in this plot. Her focus seemed to be locked onto one of them and he wondered what it was.

Gaz had noticed too and he wondered if it was just her thing or a spy thing as he commented, “Imran Zakhaev huh?”

Nicolette said, “He’s a ghost now. Now that Intel’s onto him, he’ll be in hiding but still in a position to see everything.”

“Well I’ve got a plan to draw him out,” Price said, for once glad that she opened her mouth. He drew a circle around an individual leaning against the wall in the picture they were looking at.

“Daddy’s boy,” Griggs said with a slight grin on his face.

“Zakhaev’s son. Commander of the Ultranationalists in the field,” Price confirmed, “Rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The loyalist Kamarov has got a location on the kid.”

Nicolette let out a sharp breath when she saw the picture. She was well aware that she had several pairs of eyes looking at her. She went to Price who was looking at her and inquiring silently if she had something to add. She took a breath and said, “Viktor Zakhaev is the best choice and has been responsible for the civil war between the Loyalists and Ultranationalists. Al-Asad was a partner but had no real power within the alliance considering how easy it was to find him.”

“Really? We always thought…” Griggs eyed her warily.

“Zakhaev is the one who carries out orders directly. We knew that he was the one that carried out orders but no idea who was at the top,” Nicolette explained with a slight blinking of her eyes. “We’ve uncovered a lot of money transfers under corporation fronts moving from Al-Asad to back east hence the reason Al-Asad is the lesser partner. Captain Price is correct in assuming that by getting Viktor Zakhaev…

“The little punk will know how to find Zakhaev,” Griggs interrupted.

“Yes,” Nicolette replied. “He must be taken alive thought. If there is one thing that is stronger than the money and power it is the power of family. Viktor is a tier one personnel target. Remove him from the working system, it should draw out daddy.”

She had been pulling up sheets of organizational structure of the Ultranationalists. She put Zakhaev’s image at the top, moving her fingers rapidly over the touch screen. She continued, “Just be aware though that if we get Viktor and do manage to get to Zakhaev, we would need to take out the other tier one personnel. They won’t have as much clout but can still pose a threat.”

“And do you have any idea who they might be?” Griggs looked at her.

“No. There is a codename for one and goes by the letter M. Seems that Viktor and M have gotten a little chummy. Other than that…”

“Then we’ll have to deal with it when it comes, Nico. Right now we have a fix on the kid so we’ll focus on that,” Price said. He brought up the map image and relayed the plan out.

“Sins of our fathers,” Gaz commented.

“Ain’t that a bitch,” Griggs replied.

Details were ironed out and the joint operation was on the move to move out. Nicolette sighed, relieved that was over but she knew that more questions were going to come. It happened when Price waylaid her while Gaz went to gather the team and give the rundown on orders. He came right out and said, “So I take it there is some personal information in there about Viktor Zakhaev.”

Nicolette held her computer pad like she would a book tucked under her arm and looked at the captain. “There is and some I would like to forget,” she replied.

“Anything that you left out that could spell trouble?”

Nicolette thought about it for a moment and then looked at the captain. She replied, “I don’t know. The whole story is Captain, is that I was undercover when I met Viktor Zakhaev. I was given the mission to locate a well ranked Ultranationalist since I had my suspicions that there was an alliance going on between them and Al-Asad. I just happened to get lucky and got the top dog, which I now realized.”

“And you didn’t think to mention this?”

“Considering that it felt like prostituting myself out… I was a bit reluctant,” Nicolette counted, feeling the heat rush to her ears.

Price studied her reaction. She was an enigma and a contradiction of sorts but he didn’t blame her. He pulled out a couple of cigars and offered one to her. He was surprised that she took it and bit the end off and spit it in the nearby trashcan and held it ready to be lit. He almost wanted to laugh when he thought her face was going to turn green but she smoked the cigar like an expert. He asked, “So how did you get in with Zakhaev?”

Nicolette puffed on the cigar. It was different from a cigarette and the potent smell was enough to make her sick but it was oddly soothing and she relaxed, inhaling the fumes. “Actually he saw me at some dive in Russia… St. Petersburg.  He was on a recruit mission then and he… hit on me. The place was a well-known gathering place for people with Ultranationalist views. So it was worth a shot. He bought me a couple of rounds and we started talking.”

“I’m guessing your humor was not used,” Price commented as they looked at the horizon and smoked.

“No. More like I impressed him with my ideals about a motherland that would value the traditions of our people and out western influence… the usual,” Nicolette replied taking another puff on the cigar. “I think he was more impressed by me than my politics because he actually brought me in and I managed to get to a position of some power.”

“So that is how you knew about the cargo ship.”

“More or less. I knew there was another like me in the ranks and I was instructed to pass on information especially when I was sent to Al-Asad’s territory.” Nicolette looked down at the cigar in her hands. She gave a slight smile at the way she was holding it in her left and her broken finger was sticking out rather awkward. She continued, “We were both there and I managed to get myself into a position where I had Al-Asad’s ear so to speak.”

“And the bomb?”

“That what got me captured,” Nicolette replied. “I was always careful to not leave a trace behind. I put things back where I got them and other things I had access to and it wasn’t unusual for me to be getting my hands on them. I had a partner who would feed me what was known on the streets and was my runner between camps. It was a sort of good operation. I was given a lot of leeway because of Viktor. He vouched for me.” Nicolette looked at Price. It was answering some questions.

Price smoked his cigar a little more. “You got in. That explains why Al-Asad was…”

“Oh believe me that bastard made my life miserable,” Nicolette interrupted. She could feel her temper rising as she was thinking about it. “If he wasn’t being flirtatious he was undressing me with his eyes and then trying to… the man was a pig.”

Price suspected as much at least with the way she spoke to the man before he died. “Wouldn’t have blamed you if you just killed him instead of shooting at him.”

“Maybe I felt like making him dance,” Nicolette replied with her cigar in her teeth. She smiled when Price chuckled with her and it was mostly at the face she had made when she held the cigar in her mouth. She took it out and puffed out some smoke. “I won’t let this be a liability. I’ll do what I have to do and bring Viktor in.”

Price studied intently the look on her face. He could tell that she was determined and she was exhibiting a degree of trust with him over her knowledge of Zakhaev’s offspring. “Good cause I would hate to leave you behind.”

“And I would have found a way to follow, old fart,” Nicolette replied with a wry smile.

“That I don’t doubt.” Price took a puff on his cigar and breathed in the air. “We have to get him on the first try.”

“I know.”

“I’m counting on you to make a positive ID and if necessary talk to him when we question him.” Price looked at her to ascertain if she was willing.

“I understand, Captain,” Nicolette replied as she looked at him, returning his look with one of her own. “Just be prepared for the fact that he might not want to talk to me. We were that close. If it had gone on longer…” She left the last part hanging. “I’m just glad it didn’t.”

Price said nothing but hummed. They smoked their cigars a little bit more before mutually deciding to put out what remained for later. Price held his cigar and said, “Let’s get this thing done then, Nico.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Now I recognize you.”

Nicolette frowned as she finished strapping on her vest. She adjusted the keffiyeh she had around her neck when she escaped. Like her knife, she kept it more out of the fact that it brought some luck on some level. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. She looked at Griggs who was pointing at her in a gesture of familiarity. “Excuse me?”

“You’re Santana’s sister,” Griggs pointed out.

Nicolette smiled but it was laced with uncertainty. She had no idea what the Marine was talking to her about. She was familiar with people assuming they knew her, but she set them straight and that was usually because they would have blown her cover or something. “Who?”

Griggs had been thinking about it ever since he met her when they came up with this plan. She looked familiar like he had seen her before. He studied her while she was quiet and listened and contributed to the discussion. He kept trying to place where he had seen her before and just as they were getting ready to go, it came to him. He clarified, “You’re Nicky. Santana’s little sister.”

Nicolette raised her brow at Griggs. There was only one person who called her Nicky and he was in Afghan somewhere. She was curious about it and took a step forward and asked, “Who the fuck is Santana?”

Griggs laughed at her. He liked her; she was exactly how her brother described her. And he half expected her to ask a question like that. He explained, “Kyle Walker.”

Nicolette lost her frown and wasn’t too put out that the Marine in front of her was laughing at her for not knowing he was talking about her brother. It wasn’t like they talked too much about details of each other’s lives, just enough to know that they were okay. She looked at the Marine with a raised brow, “You know my brother?”

“Went through basic together,” Griggs replied. “Always knew the kid was going places.”

Nicolette grinned, “That sounds like Kyle. So have you guys kept in touch?”

“Well after basic, we went our separate ways. Kid already had his call sign. No doubt it got him an interesting reception. The kid is more of a devil dog than anything.”

Nicolette gave a slight smile, “Yeah that sounds like Kyle. When he gets going, he’ll keep going and is a crazy son of a bitch. It was how he kept the bullies of his big little sister.”

“And he said that you were the practical one,” Griggs countered. He grinned some more and added, “He also said that he was the little big brother. Had a good laugh over it especially when he stood up for the little guy in our unit.”

“Again that sounds like Kyle.” Nicolette sighed a little as she thought about what to say. She looked at the others who were in various stages of preparation. She still had to load her gun and prep the magazines for both her rifle and sidearm. She had her hands on her hips and asked, “Do you know where he is? Last I heard he was in Afghan.”

“Pretty close,” Griggs allowed a little confused. “Don’t you know considering…”

“Kyle doesn’t know what I do and if you say something I’ll shoot you,” Nicolette replied in a firm tone. She softened a little bit and says, “Far as he knows, I’m backpacking and doing relief work.”

“I believe you would,” Griggs replied not put out by the forwardness. He was astonished by the similarity between brother and sister. He did accept the explanation and it made sense if she didn’t want her brother to know exactly what she was doing. He got the feeling that the devil dog would rush out on the first transport to haul her ass home. He explained, “Santana was stationed in Afghan. His unit was called to assist with the Al-Asad operation but they were to enter when NEST gave the all clear. Last I checked he was with relief effort.”

Nicolette nodded to hide the relief that she felt. At least Kyle was okay even though she dreaded the day she would get a phone call from Karen or some notification. She twisted the silver band on her finger and sighed, “That’s good. I am sorry about your fellow Marines though. I was hoping to warn them on time but…”

“Not your fault. Without previous Intel we wouldn’t have half of what we know.”

“Sweet talking me doesn’t get you anywhere Griggs.” Nicolette couldn’t help but give a slight smile. She liked the Marine because he was like her brother in terms of being a Marine. “A good ass kicking might.”

“Anyway you like it, Nicky.” Griggs gave a slight smile and it was spoiled by the chuckle. He couldn’t help it.

Nicolette gave a slight chuckle as she replied, “Only Kyle calls me that. You can call me Nico. It’s what my team calls me.” She gestured towards Bravo Team.

“And what are you doing with the other side of the pond, Nico?”

“I fell in,” Nicolette replied with a smile. She started back to where her gear was to get finished. “I fell in and decided to stay. Don’t worry Griggs. I’m still a bloody Yank.” She grinned at that and added, “But I still like to converse with my countrymen.”

“Right.” Griggs couldn’t help but smile at her. “Maybe we could get together and have a drink when this is over.”

Nicolette smiled slightly, “That might be manageable. Been awhile since I heard someone beside me talk.” She went back to work prepping her weapons. She found the box of ammo for her gun and loaded a few more magazines. She was maxing out on the ammo more because of her apprehension she was developing. She didn’t want to say anything and continued to work. She made a few more extra of her pistol mags and it was going to be a wonder how she was going to fit it all on her person. Somehow she managed to pack it all and still look like a Muppet as Gaz would say. She even had room for the computer pad, which surprisingly hadn’t broken with the amount of heavy hitting she had taken the last time and placed it in the pack she would carry.

“How’s the finger Nico?”

Nicolette turned to who had said it and found it was Gaz asking her the question. She looked and saw that her finger was still splinted. She peered at it and said, “Oh. It’s fine.” She demonstrated by taking it off and wriggling it wither other fingers. “I’ll tape it,” she added.

Gaz nodded and handed her a roll. “Good. We don’t need you breaking any others.”

“I’ll handle it, Gaz,” she replied. “It’s nothing.” She gave a slight smile. “Though I am sorely tempted to use it,” and she started to chuckle since she was wriggling her finger with ease and if she angled her hand, she would be flipping someone off.

Gaz gave a nod as he watched her tape up her finger to allow for bending but also giving support for her finger. He was also laughing at her comment. He had heard what happened to Wallace when he asked her about her finger. “You were intending on being funny weren’t you? I heard about Wallace,” he asked.

“Everyone laughed didn’t they?” Nicolette finished taping off her finger and held it up for her personal inspection. She lowered her hand and looked at Gaz and asked, “Do you really think I should be here?”

Gaz looked at her, thinking that it was an odd question to ask. Then again with everything going on, no one really asked the question of whether or not she belonged. He knew as far as Price was concerned, she stayed and she pulled her own weight and then some. He didn’t doubt that since she hauled Soap and she didn’t look capable of hauling anything heavier than the gun she was assigned to.  
“I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure what to make of you. I was willing to take you down if you killed one of ours.”

“An honest answer, Gaz,” Nicolette replied with a slow blink of acceptance. “I would have done the same.”

“That I don’t doubt.” Gaz looked at her as she played with the tape roll. “You certainly don’t leave a man behind.”

“Core concept of teamwork,” she replied. She handed back the tape to Gaz. “Something I learned to be important even though this job is made for singles.”

“Well you know I got your back if you need it,” Gaz said as he accepted the tape. “Anyone who can shoot like you can and save my ass… You do a good job here Nico and I know you are needed. Besides no one can produce as much entertainment as you along with Soap.” He gave a smile at her.

“I’m here for comic relief,” Nicolette replied with a shrug of her shoulders in a sheepish manner. “I did tell you I’m an analyst not an agent.”

“And forgive us if we don’t quite believe you,” Gaz replied with a slight smile. “Now you better finish or Price will really leave your ass behind.”

“Old fart,” Nicolette muttered within Gaz’s ear shot.

Gaz heard the comment as he turned away and turned to look back at her. She was finishing with whatever she was doing and he noted MacTavish was loping along watching her and he almost laughed. He had noticed the FNG watching her as she was talking with Griggs. It was like MacTavish was under the impression that no one was allowed to make friends with her except him and the funny part was that they didn’t even like each other though Gaz suspected whatever she said to get MacTavish to scowl like that she did it on purpose. And she did stick by the FNG even through the thick of it and covered him. Whatever doubts anyone else had, Gaz knew she belonged… if only for the entertainment and he suspected that was why Price kept her around.

Nicolette felt more at ease knowing that there was at least one who appreciated her efforts and Mac did tease her a bit so that could be counted as accepted. Yet she asked Gaz directly and he was honest with her. It helped as they loaded up to be dropped in the middle of southern Russian to begin the first phase of capturing Viktor Zakhaev.

It was an early morning they arrived and one couldn’t help but yawn. Nicolette did as she moved off of MacTavish’s right flank and was grateful that she had worn her keffiyeh. She liked it for the warmth but the memories behind it were unsettling and yet… it oddly seemed right to wear it. She yawned again and adjusted her bearings.

“Asleep at the wheel?”

Nicolette looked at MacTavish and smirked, “You maybe but I’m awake.”

“And the day just started,” MacTavish replied in an exasperated tone.

“Best part of waking up.”

MacTavish gave a slight grin as they moved forward through the junkyard. They were to find the enemy checkpoint that Zakhaev’s son would be passing through. They were to intercept, identify and then grab the bastard and they would be disguised as the enemy. There was one thing that could go wrong and no one seemed to want to voice it when the plan was laid down: they had a female with them to disguise… not that it would be hard to but still.

_Bravo Six, this is Vulture One-Six. Radio jammers are active. You’re cleared to engage the guard station. Out._

They made it to within a close proximity and MacTavish could immediately spot guards in the tower. He knew what that meant and was confirmed when Price said, “Soap, get on that dumpster and prepare to take out the guards in the tower on my mark. The rest of you follow me.”

That meant Nicolette had to go and it was a first that she was ordered to be out of MacTavish’s sight. He felt vaguely uncomfortable with it as he started to climb onto the dumpster to gain a sniping position. He glanced at Nicolette who looked a bit mutinous in his opinion at the order but she started to follow the others and a bit reluctantly. _Now you decided to follow orders?_

MacTavish watched as she followed the others and noticed she did that weird little kiss maneuver with her left, kissing the thumb and tapping it to her forehead. It was a little funny since she couldn’t quite curl her middle finger into her fist. He watched as it straightened out slightly and flipped him off along with a wry grin on her face. She knew that he was watching. He shook his head thinking of a few choice words to say to that. The only thing he could think of was to return the gesture and pray that no one was thinking he meant them.

Subtly he let his left middle finger show while she was watching, covering the flank. He watched as her features contorted into a grin and she wriggled her finger at him before turning around. Feeling his lip twitch, MacTavish turned to take up his sniper position and spotted two in the tower. He aimed through his sights to get a good position and took into account the wind and everything so that his aim wouldn’t fly wide or short.

_Soap, take them out now._

Two shots and the guards were out. MacTavish could hear Price telling people to move into position and to go weapons hot. He jumped down from his position to regroup with the team. He prayed that the annoying Nicolette didn’t do anything stupid like get hit or anything. He moved up and was immediately hit with return fire. Since he had his sniper rifle, he managed to spot a few tangos on the roof and took aim.

He had taken out one on the roof and lowered it to move up. It was then he noticed Nicolette had charged forward. Apparently she had been hiding in the advance and managed to move up quicker than the others. She had made it to one on the roof that he hadn’t seen and had the guy in a headlock. He watched through his scope, ready to give a hand when she deftly snapped the neck and the body dropped.

There was still fire going on and MacTavish had no time to worry about it as he returned fire until all the tangos were taken out. The stragglers were taken out and Griggs moved into the main building to check it out and called, “All clear.”

“Did you miss me?”

MacTavish looked at Nicolette who managed to creep up on him and still managed to smile sweetly at him. He replied a bit gruffly, “Like I would miss an annoying Yank like you. You’re a pain in my arse.”

“And you have a stick up yours,” Nicolette countered. She adjusted her gun and flexed her left. “By the way, nice move with the finger. I’m sure half the team thought you were flipping them off.”

“Not them. Just you.”

“Didn’t look like it to me.”

“And you were just doing that to be funny?” MacTavish looked at Nicolette with a piercing glance wondering why he was even concerned that she was out of his sight for a moment.

“For fun yes. Especially since it was you,” she replied with a smirk on her face. She walked forward to hear what Price had to say for the next part of their plan.

“All right, let’s get this place sorted out. Change into the enemy uniforms and douse the fires. Kamarov, I need your men on the ground if the drivers start asking questions. Just keep them busy until we locate Zakhaev’s son.” Price looked at the loyalist Kamarov for confirmation and received it with a nod.

Kamarov replied, “Da. There is one question.” He gestured in the direction of Nicolette.

There was no denying it that she did stick out even if she were to stuff her hair under a hat. She was also short and it was a little hard to believe that there was a very short man in the company. Price though was concerned that if she was on the ground, Zakhaev’s son would recognize her even if she were in a disguise.

Nicolette was well aware of the inherent difficulty with this. While she could disguise her body to look more mannish, she couldn’t do anything to her face. Her face had classic curves of a female and it would make her look like a very feminine man. The obvious solution would be to sport a hat with a wide brim, tuck her hair under it and not look at anyone. She had done it before when she blended in but that was in a pinch. There was too much riding on this and she offered, “Then I’ll go where there isn’t the advantage of sight. Target is a bit nearsighted so if I were in the tower or not too close, it should be okay.”

Price was willing to accept that and found it interesting that she didn’t mention that tad bit before. Then again it was one that wasn’t important unless a solution had been attempted and needed some backing up. He nodded, “Alright. Nico will be in the tower and provide additional confirmation of the target when located. Any questions?”

No one answered and Price nodded, “We don’t have much time, so get to it.”

Two hours later found MacTavish, Nicolette and Griggs up in the tower dressed in enemy uniforms. Nicolette had pulled her hair back to reset it and formed a tight knot at the base of her neck. She gazed at the road and took in the sun making its rise to indicate the hour. She twitched her nose at the smell of her uniform.

“Man you look like a clown in that outfit,” Griggs commented as he looked at MacTavish. “Good thing you up here cause you look nothing like a Russian.”

“And what do you think a Russian looks like?” Nicolette turned to look at the staff sergeant after she glanced at her wrist. That thing Jensen sent her was a tough piece of equipment. During the two hours of waiting, she played with it a little. It gave latitude and longitude and it looked like it had connection to the satellites for internet communication. It kept her busy.

“Definitely not like that,” Griggs pointed at MacTavish.

“Well you don’t exactly blend in yourself,” MacTavish replied as he adjusted his gun again.

“Maybe Nico here can,” Griggs indicated. “Certainly as one of the village people.”

“I’m flattered,” she drawled with slight sarcasm in her voice, “But I prefer the ball cap and hair tucked underneath. Works just fine. Enough for me to sneak up on you and kick your ass.”

“Good enough for me,” Griggs countered.

MacTavish would have glared at the American soldier and mostly for the reason that he didn’t like the implications in that conversation. He didn’t mind the insults towards him since he did make one ugly ass Russian. Then again how did he know what they looked like? At least she was able to handle it like she did.

“Actually I find it funny that that a Scott is playing a Russian. Some things don’t react too well I guess,” Nicolette whispered in MacTavish’s ear.

MacTavish looked at her and almost wanted to laugh since she had tried to imitate his accent. He noticed that she was grinning at him and shook his head with a slight roll of his eyes. It was pretty funny and he had to wonder if she suggested this on purpose apart from the obvious reasons. He locked and loaded his weapon and moved to stand nearby Nicolette and appear that they were watching.

_Bravo Six, this is Vulture One-Six, we’re tracking an enemy convoy headed your way. I count six vehicles in the convoy, over._

_Roger that. Nobody fires a shot until I give the word._

“I guess that’s my cue,” Nicolette muttered as she moved into position. She knew that Viktor wouldn’t be able to see her from that distance but she could see him.

“Too bad it’s not high noon,” MacTavish commented.

Nicolette couldn’t stop the chuckle. She imitated his Scottish accent, “Of course the best time is in the morning as long as there’s no bagpipes.”

MacTavish muttered, “Bloody Yank.”

“Atcher service,” Nicolette replied still imitating his accent.

Nothing more was said as the convoy they were waiting for moved into their ambush point. Nicolette held her weapon as she looked at each individual vehicle. She spotted the jeep and its passengers. She was certain that she saw Viktor.

_Wanker… Sir, I have a visual on the target in the third vehicle. I’m walking by it now._

Nicolette looked to locate Gaz and follow his path to the vehicle in question. She took a look and knew. She said into her radio, “ID confirmed, Captain. It’s him.”

_Copy that. All teams stand by. The target is in the jeep in front of the BMP. We need to take him alive so watch your fire._

“You sure?” Griggs looked up at Nicolette as she made a motion to look like she was patrolling at her post.

Nicolette looked at the soldier hiding from view and then around like she was taking in the sights. She glanced at MacTavish before replying, “It’s him.”

MacTavish noted the tone her voice had taken. It had him frown since it sounded like she was sad that it was. It would have been suspicious if she had set them up but then again it more likely had to do with the fact that she knew the target. The little details like his nearsightedness was something gleaned from personal interaction. That also meant that there things she might know that could have bearing on this but she would have given them to the captain and he seemed to trust her judgment. He tensed his muscles and readied to make his move.

_Standby. Standby… Smoke ‘em._

Gunfire erupted immediately as they moved to take out the convoy while extracting the target. MacTavish picked out the ones trying to set up a perimeter and the gunman on the vehicles. Nicolette was beside him taking aim along with Griggs.

_We got company sir… enemy reinforcements to the south…_

 Nicolette looked up and saw them just as the jeep started moving. Viktor was getting away. It was tempting to shoot but they needed him alive. She followed him and his line of escape before realizing he was going to take out the tower.

“He’s gonna hit the tower! Hang on!” Griggs shouted out the warning as MacTavish and Nicolette started moving.

MacTavish tried to reach Nicolette to at least protect her from the worst of it but the tower went down and knocked him out. He came to a little bit later and noticed that the jeep with the target had stopped by him and could make out the bastard getting out and firing at whoever was shooting at him. The bastard ran right by him and he was on his side.

_The target is making a run for it. Soap, take Griggs and chase him down. We’ll handle the enemy reinforcements and catch up. Go. Go!_

MacTavish wasn’t going to wait around to be ordered twice. He was on his feet and helped Griggs to his feet. The only one missing was Nicolette. She was nowhere in sight. _Shite!_


	11. Chapter 11

Nicolette had managed to clear the tower by getting to the side that was still upright and ride the tower down. She leapt off and rolled a ways into the grassy area near some beat up cars and forced her body into a stop. She looked to see MacTavish and Griggs on the ground and they were within a few feet from Viktor. Silently she prayed that they wouldn’t move otherwise they would be shot.

It was to be her wish granted since Viktor ran past them to get away. She followed staying out of his sight while gaining on him. She wanted to catch him alone. Maybe she could convince him to surrender since she was uncertain about whether or not he still had feelings for her. If he had been told about her betrayal that theory would be shot but it was worth one.

_Bravo Six, this is Vulture One-Six. I’m tracking the target. Damn this guy moves fast._

_You haven’t seen fast_ , Nicolette thought as she sprinted through the junkyard area to keep up. It was hard work since she was carrying about fifty pounds worth of gear on her person but it wasn’t unlike anything she had carried when she went to the recruitments with Viktor.

_Okay he’s leaving the junkyard to the north west. Get his ass, move, move!_

Nicolette changed direction after getting a bearing from her watch. She took to climbing over junk in order to get to the course correction. No doubt Griggs and MacTavish would be making the same adjustments but she was further ahead. She could do this. It was like sprint chasing when she and Kyle were kids.

_You can’t beat me Nicky. I’ll always be faster._

_Nu-uh. I’ll get you and I’ll be sneakier about it._

Nicolette heard the barking of dogs but didn’t see anything. She must have bypassed them but they sounded close. It was followed by gunfire so that meant they were on Griggs and MacTavish. She would have liked to have gone and help but capturing Viktor was important. MacTavish and Griggs would do the same but she felt dirty for it.

_Now if you see a chance, do what you have to do Nico. Get him to surrender if you can._

Nicolette adjusted her breathing as she remembered what Price told her before she went up in the tower. The man had taken her aside after she had put on her enemy uniform. There was no point in trying to hide her curves since she looked a bit bulky with her gear on anyway. It was like Gaz’s joke of being mistaken for a short man. At first she thought that he was going to tell her to just ID the man and then lay low. It turned out quite different.

Price looked at her and said, “You know there was some concern about you coming with on this.”

“I know, sir,” she replied.

“Said that you might be a liability.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” She was actually waiting for the ax to fall then and there.

Price though looked at her as if trying to make some sort of snap judgment about her. He then said, “I find it to be a load of shit. Now I know you wouldn’t put yourself to be a liability so I’m going to say this: Now if you see a chance, do what you have to do Nico.”

“Sir?”

“Do what you have to do. Get him to surrender if you can. We need him alive and you might be our best chance at doing that.”

It had dawned on Nicolette what Price was asking of her. The man had taken her previous association with Viktor into account and he was asking her to use it. She looked at the captain and replied, “There is a chance that my captors told him of what I was doing.”

“It is a risk we have to take,” Price replied. His look softened a little as if to sympathize with her. “If you were that close, there is the possibility that he still has feelings for you.”

“And you want me to play on that.”

“I know it’s asking a lot but…”

“I’ll do what I can… Captain.” She looked at Price with a look of understanding. This was war and sometimes you did end up doing things that were despicable. She may not like the fact that she played upon a man’s feelings for her to get the information she needed but it had to be done if they were going to eliminate the major players in this game of war. “I’ll try to convince him but it is a big risk. I just want to reassert that.”

“And if it won’t work, get yourself out Nico. Don’t risk yourself any more than necessary.” Price then gave her a look that was one of concern.

It had surprised Nicolette that Price looked at her like that. She accepted that he was concerned because she was a part of the team but there was something about that look that was way different from that. It was… She wasn’t sure how to describe it but it made her determined to not let him down. She would chase Viktor all the way to Moscow if she had to in order to convince him.

_Okay the target is moving… north… he’s headed towards the outskirts of the city._

Nicolette made a change and headed for the outskirts, cutting across grasslands to save time. She caught sight of Viktor and kept a parallel position of him. No doubt MacTavish and Griggs were not that far behind. She knew MacTavish could move if he wanted to and would find the energy somewhere to keep up.

_Be advised, this area is crawling with hostile forces, over._

Nicolette made a slight motion with her head as she continued forward. Time to play like she was still a member of the group. The hostiles would slow MacTavish and Griggs down so she could use that to her advantage. The gunshots started immediately and she knew that her companions were taking fire. She adjusted her keffiyeh and continued sprinting. She began shouting in Russian about enemy reinforcements coming.

It felt shitty to do but it kept the gunfire from training in on her. To be on the safe side, she stuck to the blind spots and made her way in the direction Viktor was heading in. She could hear gunfire all over the place and gave a silent prayer that MacTavish and Griggs would be all right along with the rest of the team. She had to push forward though and did, passing herself off as an Ultranationalist, speaking in Russian and giving the right codes to indicate a friendly.

   _Check your fire, check your fire. We gotta take this guy alive._

That meant fire was getting close to the target. Nicolette knew she had to hurry. All it took was a stray shot and it was all over. She saw Viktor take refuge near a building. She needed to get close enough to talk to him.

_The target is moving again. There’s a side alley to the left that might let you cut him off._

_Great._ Nicolette knew she had to get there before the others did. She sprinted and ran through the fire. It was like running along the rooftop again and again it was miracle that she wasn’t hit. She spotted Viktor and shouted, “Viktor!”

The goal was to get him to stop and allow her to advance. However, with the heavy gunfire, it was hard to hear. Still it was hopeful when he paused a little before continuing on his sprint towards freedom. Nicolette continued forward and shouted in Russian that the Loyalists were advancing and that they needed to hold the line. She followed while she was certain that MacTavish and Griggs were going to take the alleyway.

_Multiple hostiles on the other side of that iron fence. Two hostiles coming up on your right flank._

Nicolette ignored that since straight ahead was Viktor. She was so close. The hostiles would slow MacTavish and Griggs down some. She noted the rooftops. That was going to make things a little difficult but then again these people trained like they would the military. They were prepared to die for their cause. She was being ignored since she was declaring herself one of them.

She tracked Viktor to a five story building. She also caught sight of the team across the way. At the distance she was at, they would mistake her for the enemy. It was a risk she was willing to take and followed Viktor into the building. She passed others who were going to fire on the team and they assumed that she was going to take a fortified position inside. Whatever worked for her at this moment, so she took it.

It was a close call when she heard Gaz call in for air support on the fortified portion. She took cover and inched her way forward once they were taken out. She took deep breaths as she continued to the one place she knew Viktor would be and that was the roof. There was the possibility that he might find a way to jump down or make a stand and kill himself. Either way, she had to get there and at least talk to him.

She took the last few steps up to the roof and slowed down. The last thing she wanted was to startle him. She peered around the corner to see him looking frustrated and counting what was left of his ammo. Taking a breath, she addressed him in Russian, “Are you trying to fly?”

It was a gamble to use an old teasing phrase they shared. Viktor pointed his gun at her as she stepped out into the light but lowered it as he recognized her, “Anya? Is it you?” He peered since she was still a fair distance away.

Nicolette felt her throat convulse as she heard the cover name she used then. She replied, “It is me Viktor.”

“I thought you were dead. They said that you were a traitor but I knew that you would have a good reason for holding such valuable secrets.” Viktor looked at her as she advanced still holding her hands up, her rifle hung by its strap. He motioned with a smile as he lowered his weapon. “Come there is no need for you to feel like a prisoner.”

“One of your goons treated me like one,” she replied pushing the affronted feeling.

“Then I will take care of them. I know that you wouldn’t betray me,” Viktor replied.

“You know I wouldn’t my love. We were to start the revolution to revive the glory of Russia and make the world see us as powerful as the west.” Nicolette looked at Viktor as she reminded him of their plan. She had managed to temper his bloodlust and start towards other means of seizing power that fit with the ideology of the party or a least a modified version.

When she first explained things, he had gotten angry. He could have killed her then but she continued in her explanation. She said that the west is an example in terms of building strength and that it was the same strength that could build Russia but unlike the west, they would uphold the values that defined their people. He bought it and she actually thought it possible too. Unfortunately it was the one source of contention between father and son. She could count the times he came frustrated to her apartment and he would spend time kissing her and saying sweet nothings in her ear. He never made a move though and it puzzled her but she didn’t dwell on it.

Now she was looking at him as he was smiling and caressing her face. She said, “We can still start it the way we want to.”

“But it has already begun. My father sent the bomb and that pawn Al-Asad let it be there. Last I heard he was taken… Dead and good riddance.” Viktor looked at her and stroked her cheek. “He was tempted to take what is rightfully mine.”

“I would have liked to have killed him but I know the cause is important.”

“Always the cause.” Viktor Zakhaev sighed as he looked at her and brushed the loosened locks away from her face and fingered them. “But you know my heart.”

“Because it makes you happy and when you are happy, I am happy.” Nicolette smiled at the man and kissed him. She couldn’t really complain about the kissing since he was a good one and it was an odd detail to remember.

Viktor accepted the kiss and returned it. He broke it and looked at her. “How did you escape?”

“You have at least one person loyal.”

“I will have to reward him.” Viktor studied her and noticed her keffiyeh. He ran a finger along the material and fingered it. “You still have it.”

“You gave it with your love.”

Viktor would have said something but was interrupted by gunfire. He frowned and said, “The pestilence is here. They will not take me or you.” He cocked his gun.

This was what Nicolette had to prevent. She put her hand on his gun arm and looked at him in the eye and said, “And what would that accomplish? We have work to do for the cause. You said it was your father who sent the bomb. They want you to tell them where he is.”

“They won’t take us.”

“And what of our cause? You believed in what I thought once. Do you still?” She held his gaze and he looked into her eyes. “If you make a stand and die here, then he wins. _He_ wins.” She hoped that the attitude he had towards his father was still in play. His father had put him down and she remembered that conversation.

“What do you suggest? Surrender? How is that better? They would send us to the gulags, separate me from you.”

“There are ways of getting our message out. There are those loyal to us that would set us free.”

Viktor looked at her. She always knew what she was saying. She had spoken truth when she made her case and she was right. She had been the one to inspire others to the cause and they were loyal to him and her. Yet he couldn’t stand the thought of seeing her imprisoned. “But you would be imprisoned and my love… I would die before I see you in prison to be tortured.”

“For the cause, my love. For the cause.”

She almost had him. Nicolette knew that he was on the verge of accepting. That is until the team showed up. Viktor took one look at her and gave her a smile. It was the one he had used when he was going to play a trick on her. He grabbed her and spun her around and put the muzzle of his gun to her head and held her fast. He whispered in Russian, “Do you trust these pestilences to do the right thing?”

Nicolette felt her fear pulse as she put a hand on the arm that had her in a tight grip. She saw Gaz pointing his weapon at them both but she was the human shield. He was shouting, “Drop the bloody gun! Drop it!”

It was a standoff as the team pointed their weapons at her and Viktor. She locked her eyes onto Price and shot him a look of apology. She had tried.

“I can put one in his leg, sir,” Griggs was offering.

It was a marvel that no one called her by her name out of shock. It would have made things awkward and they could have gone really bad for everyone. The worst case would be that she would have a bullet in her head.

“No we can’t risk it! Hold your fire,” Price replied. He looked at the situation and noted that it was going to go south if they didn’t find a means of getting Nicolette out without injury to her person. He could see that she wasn’t going to try anything either especially with a gun at point blank range to her head.

Viktor looked at the group and said, “You want me?”

“Drop the weapon!” Price held his hand up to keep the others from firing. His was still pointed in the direction of the brat and Nicolette was in the bloody way.

Nicolette had to say something. She said in Russian, “Viktor, please. Live today. Fight tomorrow. It is the best way to see our dream come true.” She tried not to move too much since there was a gun pressed to her temple and she was a human shield for heavy firepower.

“They will send us to prison.”

“We still have our message.” She hoped that this was going to go well. They needed him alive and she was the best choice at convincing him. “Please my love. Think about the cause.”

Viktor did seem to think about it and demanded, “What do you want?”

Price knew he had to answer. One of his own was on the line here. He replied, “We need information.”

“About my father?”

Price looked at Nicolette. She was looking at him but not indicating anything. It was like she was waiting to hear what was going to be said. He glanced at the others and then at Viktor. “Yes. We want him. If you come with us, we won’t harm the girl.”

Nicolette wondered what was going on with Price making that offer. Then again he was attempting to save her life. It could still work out in that they would have to apprehend her too. She had a couple of ideas to make that happen. It certainly would make memories of a sort. She just hoped that Viktor would be receptive to it. She had him convinced somewhat that he could do what he had to and take out his father but didn’t outright say that. Family was a major thing in Russia and was one of the many things that Karen had made sure she knew.

Viktor looked at Price. There was no way out. He could go in as his Anya suggested and then give up his father. It could work out like she said it could. She was intelligent as she was beautiful. It was a precious thing to him. He couldn’t let her rot in their prison. He would do it but not her. She could carry on their work. He looked at group and then Price and said, “If I go with you, she is left alone?”

“You have my word,” Price replied. He was going to have to ‘arrest’ Nicolette if this worked but at least they would have his man. He looked the brat directly in the eye to indicate that he was going to keep his word.

Viktor nodded as he pressed a kiss to her temple. He then released her and took a few steps back but he pointed his gun at her still. He looked at Nicolette before giving a slow smile and moving the muzzle away from her and looked like he was going to lower it. His hands were up as he continued to look at her.

Nicolette hadn’t moved from where she had been released. She was still in the line of fire but she sensed that any sudden movement might change his mind. She looked at him in the eye and begged him to not do anything rash. She appealed with the cause all in Russian and even said the pet name that she had come up for him.

“Soap, disarm him,” Price said giving MacTavish the cue to disarm the brat.

Nicolette looked at the advancing man and then at Viktor. Her eyes widened slightly as Viktor contemplated his options. He took a drastic turn and advanced towards her. She could hear the guns clicking and being held in position. _Oh fuck, what is he going to do?_

She found out when Viktor reached out and stroked her cheek with the back of his finger. He looked at her and smiled before saying in Russian, “I am sorry my love but I won’t be taken prisoner. Spread my message.” He then said something that he once said to her and she knew something was going to happen.

It was sudden when Viktor lifted his gun to his chin and pulled the trigger. Nicolette felt her body jump and the spray of blood hit her on the face as the bullet did what it was designed to do. She watched as his body dropped in slow motion and she vaguely could hear Gaz shouting ‘no’ or was it before he pulled the trigger?

All she could see was the body of Viktor Zakhaev falling down and hitting the ground and she could see the air support level with the building. She blinked as she stared at the body, the blood sprayed on her face and she started taking deep breaths. The team was advancing to view the target on the ground and she was aware that she was clenching her hands into fists and releasing them as she was almost heaving like a wheezing asthmatic.

“Shit. Kid’s got some issues,” Griggs muttered as he shook his head in frustration that the mission was a total failure.

Nicolette still looked at the body until Price grasped her by the shoulders and asked, “Are you alright? Nico?”

She looked at the man with a sort of shocked expression before she rubbed a hand through her hair and exclaimed, “Son of a bitch!” She followed through with an abrupt turn to her right, facing away from the group as she ran her hand through her hair. She kicked at the piping she was standing near. “Viktor, you son of a bitch!”

Price let Nicolette rant. At least she was physically fine. She just needed time to deal with this. He noticed that MacTavish was glancing at her while holding his position and thought he detected concern. He looked at Gaz before radioing in, “Baseplate, this is Bravo Six. Zakhaev’s son is dead. We’re coming home.” He looked at Nicolette who was pressing her hand to her forehead and had another on her hip.

“Bloody hell sir. He was our only lead,” Gaz muttered.

“Forget it,” Nicolette said as she turned to look at the group. She had her breathing under control and said, “Zakhaev won’t let this go unanswered. Father and son may have been at odds but… he’ll find a way to blame it on us and there will be hell to pay.”

Price studied her. The dead man’s blood was still on her face but she seemed to have pulled herself together on this. He had good instincts about her but he just hoped that she wouldn’t break from the strain. “I agree. I know the man. Let’s go.”

~0~0~

“So let me get this straight: You were in deep cover with the son of Imran Zakhaev?” Said looked at Nicolette with a disbelieving look.

“Is that so hard to believe?” Nicolette looked at Said like he should have expected this. “You’re a top investigator/interrogator. That should have been easy for you.”

“Forgive me but do you expect me to believe that you had contact with the son of a major arms dealer that has been the inspiration for Makarov and others and that he killed himself in front of you and the whole of Bravo team?”

Nicolette looked at the table in front of her. She tapped her fingers like she was humoring Said before looking up. “And here I was thinking that you had an open mind.”

Said nodded at that. He had mentioned that before this. “So you were assigned to Bravo team and you managed to hunt down Al-Asad and then the son of Zakhaev? What happened then?”

“As I said, Zakhaev wasn’t going to let this go. I was lucky he never met me or surely he would have put a death warrant on me. Maybe he did, I wouldn’t put it past him to find out about me.” Nicolette sighed as she leaned back and looked at Said. “What happened even though it was suicide, it was spun to look like murder and that led to more problems… for everyone.”


	12. Chapter 12

The sounds of running water were hardly comforting as MacTavish hung around outside the locker room that had been adapted for Nicolette’s use. It had been running for about ten minutes by his count and it made him feel like he was stalker waiting for her to come out. Yet no one else was willing to come out and talk to her except for maybe the captain and Gaz and aside from asking if she was okay, nothing.

The pickup back to base was awkward and quiet. It gave MacTavish the time to think about what he had seen on that rooftop. He had been surprised to emerge on that roof and see her there with brat of Zakhaev but it was nerve wracking when she was held hostage and at a standoff. She had to have been scared but she kept her composure and continued to talk to the guy. And it looked like it was working too.

It was hardly encouraging to watch the guy talk to her and touch her like she was his girlfriend especially after he tried to use her as a human shield. There was a tense moment when MacTavish thought the brat was going to shoot her when he looked at her and pointed his gun at her. He had moved in to try and disarm but then the guy just shot himself and right in front of her. None of them really expected that.

The ride back, MacTavish tried not to be obvious in his glances and wondered if Nicolette realized she still had blood spattered over her face. She probably did but she wasn’t going to think about it at the moment. She just spent the trip staring at nothing and rubbing her hands together and occasionally rubbing her broken finger.

When they got back, she disappeared… at least she thought she did. MacTavish followed her to her locker room and he ended up camped outside. It was probably not the best thing and he was certain to get it when she came out but… She was a teammate who had been in a life/death situation and it was not an easy thing to get past. He almost fell out of the chopper on the cargo ship op and could have been serious hurt when the tower had been knocked over... he could understand that. So he was risking being called a pervert or worse just to help.

The silence that came indicated that the water had been turned off. MacTavish cleared his throat quietly and tried to not be too overt with his position. He was just hoping that he wouldn’t be missed by the others, especially by Wallace who was still oscillating between pestering him about Nicolette and trying to work up the nerve to talk to her. Personally he thought Wallace was not a good idea even though he didn’t know the guy well enough to make that call. Still a gut feeling told him that if he actually got together with Nicolette, he wouldn’t like it.

“Oh great, the babysitter is now a Scottish pervert stalker.”

MacTavish turned his attention to Nicolette who looked like she had just been told she had been grounded and was ready to roll her eyes at him. Her arms hung heavy to emphasize her annoyance and whatever she was feeling. It made her really look like a sulky teenager. He replied, “Just…”

“I know, I know, checking up on me,” Nicolette replied as she waved him off and started walking in no direction in particular. She wasn’t in the mood per se but sarcasm and even spitting mad was viable. “Follow the spy and make sure she doesn’t fuck up again.”

MacTavish followed the moment she started walking. He expected the wave off since every time she was needed, _he_ was the one that came for her. He let her vent before saying, “That wasn’t your fault.”

“Right.” Nicolette stopped, knowing that MacTavish wasn’t going to go away. The man was one for following orders and he had stuck to it so… She found that she was on some paved area, probably where they demonstrated and did marching jogs or whatever. She wheeled to face him, “Because a target shooting himself is definitely not my fault.”

“You didn’t know he would do that.”

Nicolette made a sound with her lips that sounded like a scoff, “Please. The man was one of those that would let himself get shot so I wouldn’t or rather Anya didn’t. I almost had him convinced.” She turned away to look out into the darkness. “Stupid asshole.”

“You okay?” MacTavish wasn’t sure about the Anya part but it was a moot point since she was not in an explaining mood. He was able to guess that it was probably a name she went under and was what the target knew her as. It wasn’t that hard to figure out.

It was most unusual to Nicolette to hear that from MacTavish. She glanced at the man who was standing next to her, not sure what to think about what he just said and the manner he said it. It was a bit unsettling and went with the best response. She replied, “I’ll be fine and why are you being nice all of a sudden? You don’t even like me.”

That was putting it blunt and MacTavish knew that he hadn’t been exactly rolling out the welcome wagon with her. Childishly he could point out that she didn’t like him and while it sounded stupid and wrong, it felt like it was the right thing. He replied, “You don’t like me either and you saved my ass.”

“I don’t have to like someone but I still watch out for a teammate’s back.”

“Point taken,” MacTavish replied, “But I don’t not like you. You annoy me.” It was honest having developed the opinion that she was okay but he was still wary.

“Same here,” Nicolette replied after a pause, “Except for the annoying part. You’re easy.” She gave a slight smile as she continued to look out in the distance.

“You make me sound cheap.”

“Then that’s your problem,” Nicolette replied, feeling a little bit better. She had been mostly pissed at herself for not being able to convince Viktor to give himself up and pissed that that he was dead. True she had been scared for a brief moment when he took her hostage and maybe she appeared to be shocked, which she was since she didn’t expect it, but mostly she was pissed. It felt like failure and she hated to fail. She looked at MacTavish with a slight smirk, “I just point things out. You twist them into something else.”

MacTavish sighed and shook his head slightly. At least she was starting to be herself if only for a little bit. “Well I guess you’re feeling better.”

“Well my Scottish stalker is very entertaining… even if he is a bastard.” Nicolette smirked at MacTavish.

“Like I said, you’re annoying enough for me to dump your ass into a water tank.” MacTavish didn’t mean it unless it came to that and it reflected as he stared at her into her hazel green eyes with his blue ones.

Nicolette recognized the threat as a challenge the minute he stared at her the way he did. She returned it with a smirk that conveyed what she was daring, “You want to try it… Scotty?”

MacTavish sensed that it was trouble coming and he ended up walking right into it, “Don’t tempt me.”

Nicolette grinned at MacTavish. She could see that he was expecting the worst case scenario with this one. She replied, “I might but only if I’m sure to win. I am dying to know how you go the name Soap.”

“Not happening,” MacTavish replied a little relieved she wasn’t suggesting anything.

She chuckled knowing he was going to say that. Still it was an option if he ever decided on that route but she knew that know he knew the goal, he would work to avoid it. “Yeah I wouldn’t either but if you did happen to win, I would tell you the most embarrassing story. Nothing like pranking the new guy but still…” She shrugged her shoulder and looked at the night sky. She should be getting some sleep soon since before she knew it, he would be back to bring her to command. “When this is over I’m thinking of opening a bar.”

It was completely random and MacTavish looked at her. There were no hints of mischievousness or anything in the looks she shot him when she messed with him. “A bar?”

“Yep. A sort of quiet profession with the occasional bar fight to break up. Stick one right in Glasgow,” Nicolette replied with a nod. It was random but it was one of those things that she thought of doing if she weren’t a spy anymore.

MacTavish was thoroughly confused but decided to play along with it, “Why Glasgow? Why not somewhere in America?”

“Been there. Liked it and it’s better than trying to open a dive in a land that is chock full of them.” Nicolette chuckled as she said that and added, “Seems that the recession is hard on some but business booms in others.”

“Glasgow has a few pubs.”

“Oh… then I guess I backpack to Nepal and open one.”

“Are you okay?”

Nicolette took in the look that MacTavish was giving her. She chuckled and it turned into gentle laughter. She managed to reply, “I’m fine. It’s just something I do from time to time. Being a spy, I travel a bit and sometimes sent to areas people never heard of. Before this it was mostly covers as a financial advisor. It was a means of passing time.”

MacTavish studied her as she just looked out into the darkness. It was a bizarre conversation and showing something other than the sarcasm that he was used to. He found that he liked it but not as much as he liked her being a pain in the ass. “Why this side of the pond?”

“No particular reason. Hell I think I might be bold and open a bar in Riyadh. That would certainly go over well.”

“Then I’d know you’re crazy.”

“And you’re bat shit crazy.”

“Good. You’re back to normal.”

Nicolette glanced at MacTavish and grinned, “Normal as in talking about wild ideas or normal as someone who still thinks you’re a Scottish bastard?”

“Normal as you being an annoying bloody Yank,” MacTavish replied and he looked at Nicolette with a piercing gaze. “Annoying and good in a fight.”

Nicolette gave a mock look of shock, “Wow. I never thought you’d be capable of a compliment.”

MacTavish made a slight clearing of his throat as he took in the mock shock. “And watch it inflate your head.”

“Funny, I thought that would be you.”

MacTavish looked at her as she smirked at him. “You’re lucky that you’re annoying.”

“A gift and a curse and I end up with the contacts,” Nicolette replied looking pleased with herself. She then added, “Though I wonder where I went wrong with you.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little.

MacTavish couldn’t help it either and it came out like a chuckle. “You wouldn’t be my first choice either.”

“Ouch,” Nicolette replied as MacTavish actually grinned at her. Her lip twitched into a slight smile. She kept a straight face but her eyes reflected her amusement at the whole thing. “That was actually quite good Scotty.”

“You really like pushing buttons don’t you,” MacTavish countered. “You know my name.”

“True and you know mine but you don’t use it. So we’re even.” Nicolette crossed her arms over her chest while raising her brow.

MacTavish looked at Nicolette and they stared for a moment. He couldn’t argue with that since he never even referred to her by name. It was more of a ‘hey you’ every time or he rolled his eyes or made a noise. She was more vocal about it. “Point… taken.”

“You really need to work on keeping up,” she countered grinning. She felt better now about the whole thing with Viktor and she added, “Just like I need to not let a target die. I hate failure.”

“Most do,” MacTavish offered with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Now I’m really starting to think that you are off your rocker. Being nice…” Nicolette made a click of her tongue when a beeping sound caught her attention. She looked at her wrist and noticed the screen beeping. Having had time to figure a few things out, she knew what it was for. “Looks like I got a phone call.”

****

“Walker, S64 go secure.”

_I see that you have figured out a few things about your new gadget._

Nicolette looked at nothing in particular since it was audio only at the moment. The earpiece that she had found in the holding compartment of her ‘watch’ was a little uncomfortable since it fit in her ear and was invisible but she could hear and talk without needing a cell phone since it appeared that it was hardwired into her wristwatch. She replied, “I had time Jensen and I have to admit this is rather new. Is it standard issue now?”

_The earpiece function is but you need a working cell phone. The gadget you were sent, it is a beta test._

“May I ask why now?”

_I needed a guinea pig for this. If it works, then the others will be issued and quite possibly to black ops/special ops. Also because I know you will find something interesting to do like improve on it._

Nicolette clicked her tongue at that. Jensen knew her well and what she did on her spare time _before_ she was recruited into field agent status. She shook her head and looked at the room she had requested for privacy, which had been readily granted to her. “Alright, you got me Jensen. What do you need?”

_How did the mission to get Viktor Zakhaev go?_

“Target neutralized himself,” Nicolette reported, “Set up was good but he decided to go out his way. He did reveal that Zakhaev did send the bomb over that killed the Marines. Money trail for that panned out. Shouldn’t you know this?”

_You know the answer to that. Will this change things?_

“Zakhaev will not let us live this down. He will use this as an excuse to bring down vengeance.”

_You may be more right than you know, Walker._

“What do you mean?”

_We intercepted a call and I think you should hear this. Uploading the file to your pad now._

Nicolette looked at her pad that was beeping. She picked it up and began accessing it. When she got this job as an analyst, it was like a dream come true to work with the latest in technology in terms of surveillance. Of course some things were old school but with the world becoming globalized, the Company had to keep up and when she was recruited to be a field agent, it seemed she may have hit it big time in terms of new things being developed and issued to other field agents.

There were rumors that there was a whole division was dedicated to this development of technology and certainly challenged the belief that it was always the military that developed the gadgets the rest of the world used. Nicolette accessed the audio file and said, “Okay I got it.”

_Our so called leaders prostituted us to the west… Destroyed our culture… Out economies… Our honor. Our blood has been spilled on our soil._

Nicolette listened as Imran Zakhaev’s voice relayed his message. For reference, the audio was accompanied by the last known image of the man even though he had been ‘under the radar’ so to speak since his assassination attempt fifteen years ago. _Even when you disagreed with Viktor you still had the same ideals. Like father, like son… or was it the other way around?_

_My blood… on their hands. They are the invaders. All U.S. and British forces will leave Russia immediately… or suffer the consequences…_

The transmission ended and Nicolette blinked long and hard at the image of the man. She knew that this was going to get ugly. Vengeance had a way of being the motherfucker that screwed everyone, even the one dealing it out. Her throat convulsed, “Any indication of what he is planning to do?”

Her pad began to show images of a facility. She recognized it for what it was and managed to not be too emotional at the fact that the man killed his own countrymen to take over the facility. She said, “So he is planning this.”

_Our visual surveillance feeds picked up Zakhaev and his men breaking into the facility. Those missiles have enough firepower to cause serious fallout…_

“If they hit U.S. and/or British soil, it will send the world on a collision course to war,” Nicolette replied as she shook her head. “The bastard is going to use his son’s death as an excuse to start World War III and in the end there will be devastation on both sides.”

_It’s why I have you Walker. You see the outcomes clearly as well as the minor systems you are fond of pointing out of adding to the larger picture._

“And look where that got us,” Nicolette pointed out as she studied the images of the facility. “Has Bravo Team of the 22nd SAS been notified?”

_You know they will. There is one more thing, Agent Walker._

“What is that?”

Nicolette’s computer pad beeped and something else came on the screen. It was another audio file and it looked like it was meant for her. She pushed the play for the audio tentatively.

_Anya, I know you are out there. You have always been there, prostituting your rhetoric and corrupting those you have been sent to recruit. You have corrupted my son and he is dead because of you._

_I know you work for U.S. and British forces. I know that you have been telling them our secrets while your prostituted yourself to my son. You have betrayed our cause in the most unforgiveable fashion and for that… there will be consequences._

_I will find you, Anya. You will pay for everything…_

Nicolette swallowed a bit at that. She knew that Zakhaev would retaliate but this was a personal death threat. She knew the man never liked her. She never met him since Viktor made sure of that but he would have had his ways and means. It occurred to her that it might have been the one who captured and interrogated her that was in cahoots with Zakhaev. Now it was obvious that this was a threat against her and the interrogator knew what she looked like…

_This is a dangerous situation Walker. I have extraction on standby for you but unfortunately there is another problem._

Nicolette made a slight face at that and took a breath. There was always something else, “What is it?”

_That facility that is taken over unfortunately a strategic one and had some important content that must not fall into enemy hands._

“Wait are you saying that it’s an outpost?”

_Something like that. It was established as a means to monitor the nuclear program Russia has and has been giving regular reports about missile readiness, the routine maintenance schedule, everything, including the operative that was manning the post._

Nicolette watched as images of the device appeared on her pad. She got the specs, everything including samples of data processed from it. “He would have evac with the module at first sight of trouble,” she commented, remembering protocol.

_Protocol exception. The module is still there and transmitting. So far, no indication of detection._

“And you want me to retrieve it?”

_Yes. It is critical Agent Walker and there is something else besides the module._

It was never a good sign to hear that and Nicolette watched her computer screen as her directives were sent to her. It had her sighing since she knew that this was definitely going to put a strain on things… And MacTavish was just starting to warm up to her too. That was the problem with being a spy. You could make friends but it was hard to keep them especially when you had to lie to their face. Sighing she asked, “Any read in?”

The conversation carried on for a few more moments and Nicolette found herself shunted to op command and standing next to Captain Price as the rundown of the facility was given. It sounded muffled to her ears as she listened to what was going on. It was a lot to digest and the fact that she had a death threat…

“It’s quite simple. Either we retake the launch facility or we won’t recognize the world tomorrow,” Price was saying to the group.

“The Altay Mountains won’t be easy terrain,” Gaz was saying.

“That’s why we’re gonna fly in and drop.”

Nicolette added, “That is feasible. Ground forces can then move up and take out main power and proceed with the breech. We should expect heavy fire once they know we are there.”

“We got that covered,” Griggs said.

“Then let’s get this thing done,” Price said.

The room started to clear out but Nicolette hung back until she was fairly alone with the captain. She was uncharacteristically quiet when she said, “Captain… a word, please.”


	13. Chapter 13

“You nervous?”

Nicolette looked over at Griggs who was making the final adjustments to his rig before they jumped. She was seated next to his left and MacTavish was to her left. She said, “Not really.” She gave a slight chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Griggs looked at her a bit concerned since she had been quiet the whole trip there, only saying something when spoken to.

“Just the fact that it has been assumed that I know what I’m doing. Like it is assumed that I know how to…” She gestured with her hands about parachuting.

“Are you saying you can’t?”

“No. Just amused that it is assumed I can,” Nicolette replied to the staff sergeant. She gave a wink and had the man laughing. When she turned to her left, she saw MacTavish staring and asked, “Something wrong?”

MacTavish was blunt, “Can you jump?”

“Yeah. I jump roped all the time.”

MacTavish shot a look at her. “You know what I mean.”

Nicolette saw the serious expression and wished that he wasn’t so uptight all the time. She knew though that he was concerned because if she didn’t know what she was doing, it could land her into trouble as well as the team. She sighed and replied, “Yes. I know how. And no, I don’t need anyone to push me out.”

_Green light to HALO. Charlie Team go._

That was the signal to get ready. They were on their feet and ready to go. Nicolette slapped her lead on and took a breath. She adjusted her keffiyeh, she still had the thing Viktor gave her, and kissed her left thumb and touched her head for luck. She was going to need it considering that this was probably going to get dicey.

_Second drop approaching. Bravo Team stay tight. Go._

The drop was exhilarating and allayed some worries as she focused her attention on making sure she landed in the drop zone. She landed with grace as her feet touched the ground and regrouped with Price, Gaz and MacTavish without so much as a sound. She held up her rifle as she kneeled and looked around. The night air was cold and the wind whistled through and there was snow on the ground. She was glad she still had the keffiyeh even though she didn’t need to keep it anymore. It kept her neck warm and helped to keep her body warm even though she was wearing a black turtleneck.

“Where’s Griggs?”

“No idea sir,” Gaz replied to Price’s query.

Nicolette looked around and then glanced at her watch. She had an idea and tapped on it to try something. She kept glancing to make sure that they were covered while she gave her idea a try.

_Bravo Six, Griggs just activated his emergency transponder. He’s half a klick to your south west, over._

Nicolette nodded and said, “Confirmed, Captain.” She looked at Price with a look.

Price nodded and replied, “We’re on our way. Bravo Six out.” He gave a look at Nicolette and she tapped her left wrist. He responded, “Let’s go.”

The team started sprinting in the direction of Griggs’ signal. It was going to be a jog and through the snow but it was nothing. Nicolette stayed close to MacTavish, keeping up with his pacing. He gave a slight twitch of his lips when she flanked his left about a half pace behind.

_Contact front. Enemy vehicle._

They paused to take them out and moved forward. There were a few enemy patrols which were taken out before reaching a gate. Nicolette’s breath came out in a cloud puff as she looked around and behind.

“They must have Griggs in one of those houses,” Price pointed out.

Nicolette moved to observe and concurred. Her watch indicated the signal was still there. She looked around before she was tapped on her shoulder. She turned to see that it was MacTavish and she gave a slight nodded and moved.

“You got your head on straight?”

Nicolette glanced at MacTavish and replied, “I’m there. Just…” She shrugged her shoulders.

_There’s an entry point through that basement door. We’ll go room to room from there. Keep it quiet. Move out._

It was a relief to hear that order. Nicolette didn’t want to talk. She wanted to keep her focus on the mission and what she had to do. She glanced at the captain who was giving her a hard look. She adjusted herself automatically and moved into position. She had her head in the game even though she might end up bringing more trouble than was necessary.

She ended up proving very valuable at stealth when she lowered her rifle to hang and moved quickly and quietly behind a tango. It was automatic to grab the head and twist, snapping the neck. She was still crouched as it was confirmed the tango was down and had moved on. Her right steadied her weapon to allow her to move much more quietly and check the corners.

Upstairs she moved down the hall and hugged the walls to get into the room adjacent to the one facing the stairs. She took out one that was hidden behind the wall while a bullet took out the other. She was joined by MacTavish who managed to keep up with her moving and gave a slight nod before rearming herself with her weapon.

“Griggs isn’t here, sir,” Gaz reported.

_Roger that. Regroup on me downstairs._

They were moving onto the next one with MacTavish taking the lead. Before moving out, he gave a silent look at Nicolette. It was a warning to stay put with the rest of the team. He was surprised that she nodded in agreement but took it and went to check the next building. He managed to snipe one guard and moved forward… until he was spotted.

The bullet whizzed by but MacTavish felt the power behind it and took cover, looking for where it was coming from. He then heard the barking of dogs. _Great. More dogs._

The splintering of wood nearby indicated more hostiles coming in to return fire. He ducked and whirled to find where it was coming from. Some was coming from the window but another was firing outside and it looked like it was all concentrated on him. More wood splintered and the debris hit with enough zing to feel like an annoying prick but not enough to cause serious damage to his person. The problem was that he was not in a very good defensive position and he ran the risk of being cut down and a railing didn’t really provide good cover either.

He managed to move off the porch and get a few of the tangos hiding. He was knocked over from behind and felt teeth clamp on the back of his vest. Instinctively MacTavish moved one hand to protect his neck and with his other, he drove an elbow into the animal. It allowed him to roll over before the dog pounced on him again. This time he was able to grab the dog and snap its neck. The next thing to come into his view was Nicolette who offered a hand up. She said, “Come on Fido.”

“Very funny,” MacTavish replied as he grabbed his weapon.

“The sun’s coming up. We’re running out of time,” Price called as he signaled for the team to fall on him.

Nicolette made a snapping gesture in MacTavish’s direction like he was a dog to indicate he was to come. He scowled but was pleased that she was being annoying again. He really was a glutton for that punishment but it was a natural kind. He followed her and covered while Price opened the door to the next house.

The first floor was clear but there was noise coming from up the stairs. Gaz gave the all clear and indicated to move upstairs. There was the sound of a Russian interrogator demanding to know how many of them were there.

“Griggs. 678452056.”

“Looks like this is the place,” Price commented after verifying it was Griggs’ voice being heard through the door. He looked at Gaz and said, “Prepare to breach the door.”

MacTavish took up position beside the door. Noticing that Nicolette was a little too exposed, he reached out and grasped the back of her Kevlar vest and pulled her back. He gestured with his eyes that she was not in a good position at her inquiry. She didn’t respond out loud but she did give him a gentle elbow in his side for thanks. That was enough and they looked at the door while Gaz rigged it.

There was only one in the room with Griggs and they were taken out with ease. Nicolette had ducked behind the others to find Griggs and check him out. The man grinned saying, “Glad to see a pretty face.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Nicolette murmured as she bent over to untie the man. “But admit it, you’re glad to see us.”

“You definitely,” Griggs replied with a grin as she undid the ropes. By that time Price and the others had come in. Griggs stood up and said, “‘Bout damn time… I was starting to think you guys were gonna leave me behind.” He stood up to grab his gun.

“That was my first thought,” Price replied, “But your arse had all the C4. You all right?”

“Yeah I’m good to go.”

_Okay Team One, we got Griggs and we’re comin’ outta building two._

Griggs gave a shrug of his shoulders and started following everyone else out. He caught up with Nicolette and jogged beside her. She asked, “All right, Marine?”

“Yes ma’am,” Griggs replied, “Thanks to you.”

“Team effort, Griggs,” Nicolette replied, “Team effort.”

“I know but I thought a lady liked being paid a compliment.”

“We do,” Nicolette replied in a patient tone. She glanced at the man and added, “It was a good one.” She gave a slight smile at that.

“Then I’ll have to keep coming up with more,” Griggs sad before continuing on.

“Semper Fi, Marine,” she replied.

“Hoo-rah.”

“Already got a date?”

Nicolette looked at MacTavish who was looking like an angry owl at the moment. The expression was gone but it was embedded in her memory and she replied, “None of your damn business. Just friendly conversation like what we have.”

_We need to knock out that tower so the advance teams can breach the electrified perimeter._

MacTavish looked ahead before looking at Nicolette. He replied, “Just asking.”

Nicolette shook her head as they continued up the hill towards the tower. They had to use the trees for cover when an enemy helicopter flew overhead. She managed to mutter, “You never just ask.”

“Maybe this time I did.”

She made a scoffing sound as Price asked for the status on Charlie Team. “Don’t make me start embarrassing you again.”

“I’d dare you.”

_Team Two in position at the perimeter. Waiting on you to kill the power, over._

“Roger that. Soap plant the charges go.”

Nicolette teased, “Ladies first.”

“And you’re not a lady,” MacTavish muttered as he ran up to the tower to plant the charges. They were rigged in no time to allow for the tower to collapse into the valley ravine below. He fixed them and said, “Charges set.”

“Everyone, get clear,” Griggs called.

The explosion took out the tower and bought Charlie Team twenty seconds to breach the perimeter. When they were through that was the call to make for the rally point. The sound of enemy helicopters was not a good thing and Price gave the order for Gaz to take MacTavish and Nicolette to scout the base.

****

_Heads up! Watch those RPGs on the rooftops!_

The warning came a little too late as the RPG propelled towards where Nicolette was standing on the second floor of the building she was firing from. MacTavish shouted, “RPG!”

Nicolette turned to see it heading in her direction. She turned and ran in the opposite direction, towards the edge with the intent to jump down. Her feet barely touched the edge to propel herself off when the RPG hit. She went over the edge in a spray of debris and smoke that was billowing out from behind her.

MacTavish was already sprinting towards the area and looking around for her. The bullets whizzing past and hitting the concrete around didn’t help matters as he looked around coughing, “Nico, where the bloody hell are you?”

There was debris everywhere and he couldn’t see anything. It was a sickening feeling when he saw a huge slab of concrete on the ground; he didn’t want to think that she had been crushed to death by that. He looked around and called, “Nico!”

“Up here.”

Looking up MacTavish saw Nicolette hanging onto a railing that was tilted at a precarious angle and over concrete with rebar sticking out. If she fell, she would be skewered. He called, “You all right?”

“Just hanging around,” Nicolette replied as she adjusted her grip. Her weapon hung on its strap over her shoulder and felt heavy at the moment while she adjusted her grip. “Peachy, just trying not to fall.”

The railing began to creak and it tilted… towards the rebar. MacTavish looked around for something to help. He couldn’t move the slab. When the rail tilted more and she almost lost her grip he couldn’t help it, “Nico!”

Nicolette swung wildly as the railing slipped. She grasped the bar again and tried not to swing so hard or it would dislodge it more. She had to get down and straight down wasn’t the way to go. She looked around for something and that was when she saw it. It was a gamble but she was confident she could do it.

Slowly she removed her rifle and tossed it towards MacTavish where it landed at his feet while he was firing at enemy tangos. Slowly she began to swing her body by pumping her legs in a strong, fluid motion. She heard the creaking and knew she was going to have to hurry otherwise she would end up missing. She swung hard to get the proper leverage she would need.

The loud creaking and strain was enough to get MacTavish’s attention and he turned just in time to see Nicolette propel her body forward and it started to drop. He watched as she stretched out and grabbed the railing she had aimed for and she smacked into the wall with an oomph.

 Nicolette held onto the railing after hitting the wall and managed to take a breath of relief in that she had made it. Unfortunately her weight proved too much and the railing dislodged to land at an angle. She lost her grip and she fell towards the hard ground and immediately forced herself to relax to reduce the risk of serious injury. She expected to feel the hard concrete but was surprised when she landed on something soft and it grunted.

MacTavish reacted when he saw the railing dislodge and jerk her around. Her grip was lost and he just hoped that he could break her fall. He ended up down that and they landed in a heap on the ground with her winding him. He couldn’t help but say, “Bloody hell.”

Nicolette moved to get off of MacTavish and kneeled, “You okay?”

“Fine now that I caught your heavy arse.”

“More like I fell on yours,” Nicolette replied with wry smile. “Thanks, Soap.”

“Just helping a teammate out. Don’t read too much into it, Nico.” MacTavish propped himself up and started to get up.

“Oh I won’t, but at least I know that I’m less annoying.” Nicolette stood up and offered her hand to help him up. She wasn’t going to make a big fuss over the fact that he called her by name. “On your feet, soldier,” she grunted as she hauled him up and then went to retrieve her weapon. She checked her ammo.

MacTavish didn’t mind being hauled to his feet and he worked off the soreness from the fall. He had worse and he did fall out of a tower fairly recently so it was no big deal. “You’re more trouble than setting the charges on the tower.”

“And I’m sure that Fido thinking you’re a chew toy is easier.”

MacTavish shook his head as he pulled up his weapon. “Try to keep up and stay out of trouble, lass.”

“You try to keep up though I wouldn’t mind you being my airbag again,” Nicolette replied with a grin as she locked and loaded. “It’s about all you’re good for.”

MacTavish said nothing but led the way out to find cover and rally with the rest of the group. Nicolette followed covering his six. He managed to take out the source of the RPGs on the rooftop while she took out a couple of dogs charging at them. She ended up muttering, “Down boy,” followed by something in Russian.

Along the way, MacTavish managed to pick up an RPG that was abandoned along with some ammo for the weapon. Nicolette commented, “Seriously, you think you need a bigger gun?”

“Every little bit helps.”

“And you said I had a big ego.” She shook her head in a tolerant fashion as she took a moment to grab some more ammo for her gun. “Clearly yours is bigger and it includes C4.”

MacTavish smirked at that as he shouldered the RPG on his back while firing his own weapon. It was a good thing that he picked up the RPG since two armored trucks pulled up loaded with Zakhaev’s men and a couple of them ad RPGs too. It was time for a little bit of payback. He took aim at one vehicle and fired.

Bullets ricocheted off the metal frames of the building that they were hiding in but MacTavish took his time with his aim and took out the other truck with the RPG before discarding the weapon. One bullet hit the wall and it knocked debris off and gave a stinging smack to his face eliciting a slight grunt. It was followed by a few firm pops that sounded really close.

MacTavish shook his head while Nicolette fired downward to take out a tango that had been hiding behind some crates and popping off rounds at them. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to fire that so close to someone’s ear?”

“Sorry. Like I said, I take care of my own,” Nicolette replied as she continued to fire. She lowered her weapon when there were no more tangos in sight. She looked down and asked, “You okay?”

“I’m fine once the bells stop ringing,” MacTavish grumbled as he rubbed his ear.

“And I thought you were used to the sound,” Nicolette teased as she moved towards the stairs. “You fire that damn thing every time.” She pointed at his weapon while almost pouting just to be infuriating.

“Alright point taken,” MacTavish growled, “Just go.”

“Someone is being a bossy nag.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

They jogged towards the rendezvous point with nothing more to say but both were comfortable that whatever was said was just part of the way they dealt with a mission. The pathway was clear so they had a good clean run but that didn’t mean that they could let their guard down. Nicolette let MacTavish take the lead and she followed covering for any sign of enemy fire.

_Bravo Six, Sniper Team Two. We’re comin’ outta the tree line to the south._

They came across a group of armed men and it was automatic to assume they were hostile. It was Price that said, “Hold your fire. It’s one of the American sniper teams.”

“Good to see you guys made it. We’ll give you sniper cover one you’re inside the perimeter,” the leader of the sniper team said.

“Looks like you Yanks are watching our backs,” MacTavish whispered to Nicolette.

“You haven’t complained so far,” she replied with a twisted grin.

They would have continued their conversation when a rumbling caught everyone’s attention. MacTavish echoed the sniper’s question, “What the hell is that?”

Nicolette was looking at the sky in the direction of the noise. She had her weapon lowered as she took a couple of steps forward. She answered while Price was calling in what was going on, “Trouble. Major trouble.” She watched as the missiles launched into the air.

_Uh… roger Bravo Six, our satellites are tracking them now. Get your team inside the facility and retake the launch control center. We’re working on getting the abort codes from the Russians at this time. Out._

Nicolette murmured as she looked down, “Just make sure to ask nicely.” This was going to be a bad day.


	14. Chapter 14

_Bravo Six, Sniper Team Two is now in position. We’ll give ya sniper cover and recon from where we are, over._

“Copy Keep us posted! Out!”

That was a relief considering that this was going to be a bad day. Nicolette followed Price’s lead with MacTavish close by as they made to breach the launch facility. It was already crazy as hell with engagement of enemy hostiles. The proof was when a chopper was hit and was going down as she entered with MacTavish. She pointed an RPG and said, “Might as well. Your head’s too big anyway.”

“And I thought you weren’t a lady,” MacTavish replied as he shouldered the RPG along with some ammo.

“I’m not. I’m rude and uncouth and a pain in the ass.”

“In a good way.”

_This is Sniper Team Two. You’ve got hostiles and light armor coming to you from the north. Suggest you get some C4 out there or find some heavy weapons, over._

“And just when you couldn’t be a bigger bastard,” Nicolette commented with a wry grin. “Then again I always like a good show.”

MacTavish handed over a C4 charge, “Then set one yourself.”

Nicolette took it and put it in her pack. “Don’t mind if I do,” she replied as she brought her weapon up. The area was really hot. Bullets were ricocheting off the storage containers that were providing cover. It was ironic how they could be cover but could also contribute to injury and death since a ricochet was just as bad as a direct hit.

The sparks were flying all over the place while she looked for the source along with MacTavish. They were on the rooftops, between the storage units. It was like playing capture the flag with blind corners thrown in the mix. It was actually an interesting reminder of an exercise she had been given when she was training at the farm. Her solution there was considered unique and one she thought probably got her noticed for field work. _Yeah that would be the reason for that_ , she thought to herself as she took cover from fire and then poked around the corner to fire again.

_We gotta cover out advance! Everyone pop smoke!_

The vehicle was within sights but they couldn’t get to it without being seen and that would mean a mow down with gunfire. MacTavish moved to find a spot to pop smoke and work his way close to plant an explosive. He heard Griggs shouting about getting close to plant the explosives. _No shite Sherlock._

“Soap, get a C4 charge on that BMP,” Price shouted.

MacTavish made an adjustment to take cover from the barrage of fire and checked his load of C4 to make sure it was secure. He turned just a moment and saw that Nicolette was not there. “Shite, Nico. Where the bloody hell are you?”

He moved towards the BMP since it was clear that it needed to be taken out. He got pinned down by some crates. He felt the bullet whizz by and a burn in his shoulder as it grazed it. He grunted as he took out the bastard that hit him. It was then that he spotted Nicolette and she was standing there beside the BMP and she was planting the charge he had given her.

As much as he wanted to curse at her, MacTavish knew he had to cover her and aimed his weapon at a hostile that was aiming right at her. He took him out with one shot and looked for another just as she finished planting the charge and ran in a direction to take cover that was out of his sight. The next thing that happened was a large explosion as he took cover. When he came out he looked around to see where she was and prayed she didn’t do anything stupid.

He found her behind some storage containers looking at the damage she had wrought. She spotted him and said, “Whoa. Ka-boom.”

“Are you deliberately being suicidal?”

“Hey you needed that thing taken out so I went. It wasn’t like you were trying to keep up,” Nicolette countered. She picked up her rifle and continued to fire. “It’s down now so what are you complaining about?”

MacTavish rolled his eyes at that. He couldn’t complain since the BMP was neutralized. He just didn’t like the fact she just charged out there like that. She wasn’t a soldier as she had pointed out so it was best she stayed back and take cover and fire. It was logical. Then again, him being assigned to babysit her was not normal and she didn’t make it easy in the first place. “Fine. Whatever just stay beside me. I don’t need you doing something stupid,” he replied as he moved to advance further now that they weren’t in too much trouble.

“Fine bossy nag.”

_Bravo Six, this is command, gimme a sit-rep, over._

“We’re inside the perimeter, approaching the gates to the silos! Out!”

The team advanced but there was still a lot of heavy fire that countered them as they moved in. MacTavish could see hostiles with RPGs on the roof and more on the ground firing at them. He heard Nicolette mutter, “Maybe now is the time to use that big ass gun of yours.”

“Still trying to tell me how to do my job?”

“Being a Scottish bastard comes naturally to you.”

There wasn’t much time to say much more of anything since the hostile fire intensified and they had to move. Debris was flying up and ricochet fire was going everywhere. An RPG fired from the roof and hit near where some of their men were and MacTavish followed it before he saw the grenade coming at them. He shouted, “Grenade!”

It was natural to grab Nicolette by the arm and pull her away from the grenade. Wrapping his arms around her, he pushed her down and covered her with his body just as it exploded. Dirt and debris showered them and something hit him, probably a larger chunk of debris. He looked down and asked, “Nico?”

Nicolette had been winded by the sudden shove MacTavish had given her to the ground but the following explosion told her why. She looked up and saw the man on top of her and looked around. She spotted something and with her left, she managed to free her pistol and shoot at the hostile that was aiming right at them. She then said, “I’m fine if you get your heavy ass off of me.”

“You’re welcome,” MacTavish said as he got to his feet and offered a hand up.

“Part of teamwork,” she muttered. She took a breath a little relieved that she could and MacTavish was offering it by positioning himself in front of her.

_Cover me. I’m gonna blow the gate!_

“Time to go to work,” Nicolette muttered as she pulled up her rifle and began to fire at enemy hostiles.

They managed to breach the gates but there were more BMPs to deal with. Nicolette looked at MacTavish and gave a slight look at the RPG he had on him. “Show them your gun?”

MacTavish felt his lip twitch but said, “Do your job, nag.”

“I will when you stop needing helpful hints.”

“Soap! Griggs! Knock ‘em out! GO!”

Obeying Price’s orders, MacTavish moved to take up position to take out the BMPs. From his count, he could make out two of them. The first one was closer to them and the hostile fire was thick there. That one had to be taken out first. He still had the RPG he commandeered and as Gaz suggested it could take it out at long range.

Taking cover in one of the outbuildings, MacTavish looked for the nearest BMP and unshouldered the RPG and loaded it up. He took aim and fired. It was a direct hit but it was still able to move. He reloaded and fired again at the BMP.

“It’s toast,” Nicolette’s voice piped up. She glanced up at him from her crouched position and teased, “Can you give a repeat performance?”

MacTavish shouldered the RPG and brought his rifle up. He took out a hostile before replying, “Pay your dues lass.”

“It’s a free performance stupid.”

“Then I guess Act Two is coming.”

“This isn’t Shakespeare, Soap,” she muttered as she moved so they could advance.

The second BMP was raining heavy fire just like the first. They were pinned down but MacTavish managed to get to a position where he had a clear shot with the RPG. He unshouldered it and loaded while Nicolette took a cover position and fired on hostiles. Taking aim, he fired. It went wide and hit the dirt behind the BMP. “Shite!”

“Reload.”

MacTavish reloaded at the prompting and this time took better aim. It was a direct hit this time but they needed one more hit to take it out. He only had one more left so he had to make it count. Loading the RPG he glanced over at Nicolette who was covering and Gaz was taking cover nearby and saying, “One more shot ought to do it.”

MacTavish took aim, probably a little too long, but it was worth it. He fired and then ducked for cover. The explosion confirmed a hit and Gaz shouted, “Good shot!”

“Nice,” Nicolette added as she glanced back with a grin. She got up and they raced over to the silos to commence the breach.

_Bravo Six, this is Strike Team Three inserting from the northwest. Repeat, we’re moving’ in from the northwest. Check your targets and confirm, over._

“Copy Team Three! We’ll meet you at the north end of the tarmac near the vent shafts, out!”

It was tense covering the team cutting through the grating to the vents but it had to be done. They may have cleared the area but there could be a few stragglers. Nicolette looked around with a scrutinizing eye, unaware that she was being watched through a targeting scope and she was in clear sights to be taken out.

~0~0~

It was routine patrol and one that he requested. He needed time to think after the events of the past few days. He firmly believed in the politics of the party. The west had corrupted the beauty of his home, his country, his people; it had to be changed. It was why he had joined. He wanted to be a part of that changed.

He was no stranger to violence. He was Spetsnaz. He knew what it meant to do what was necessary to get the job done. It just didn’t sit well with him what had been done under Al-Asad’s orders by detonating the nuclear device. Even he knew that by doing that, the man had been setting himself up for potential enemies by the people he claimed to be freeing from western oppression.

He had joined at the encouragement of his closest friend. They were like brothers. They believed in the same things and they joined through Viktor Zakhaev. They would lead their country toward the future. That was the dream. Then it changed when Viktor brought someone new in. It changed the day he met her.

She was beautiful and intelligent. He always suspected that she seemed to know more than what was going on. She knew things that he considered suspicious but her ideas were genuine. It had always been thought that the way he and his friend had but she made sense and he started to agree. He never mentioned it even when they accompanied her to Al-Asad.

His friend said she was a traitor and he had the incriminating documents. Maybe it was true and maybe it wasn’t. They captured her and she was interrogated. The more she answered, the more he was convinced that she was not who she said she was but there was something else in her that he couldn’t identify. He stopped his friend from doing the worst to her and silently cheered when she escaped.

It was a shock to see her when he spotted the Americans and the British breaching the vents of the facility. He had taken aim to start picking them off when his sights caught her. He paused and saw as she stood there with her gun looking around. He peered through his scope and thought he was mistaken but there she was. The same hair and same stature. Her face was smeared with paint but it was her. So his friend was right.

He took aim down his scope. He could take her out. His finger was on the trigger. Then he spotted what was around her neck and blinked. He reasserted himself and aimed and had his finger on the trigger. She was a traitor. He had her in his sights. A perfect head shot.

Sighing he removed his finger from the trigger. He held his breath when she looked in his direction. It was like she could see him but she turned quickly and moved towards the edge. He would let her go. There was always something about her and he couldn’t put his finger on it. He watched as she clipped herself to the rappel down. He would let her go. He turned to distract his companion who was coming up the way.

~0~0~

“Squad, hook up!”

MacTavish looked at Nicolette who was looking off in a direction and almost like she was staring into space. He tapped her shoulder, “You awake?”

Nicolette frowned as she moved towards her position to rappel down. “Yeah, just got the feeling like someone was watching me or something. Weird I know but…” She shrugged her shoulders as she made ready to go down.

MacTavish studied her and then looked in the direction she had been looking at. She may be an annoying Yank but even he knew that she wouldn’t kid about something making her uncomfortable. She may not be vocal about some things but she wouldn’t make light of something like that. He couldn’t see anything but he didn’t like that it made her uncomfortable. He was quiet about that and made his rig ready to rappel down. He asked, “Can you rappel?”

“Best thing I could do at the farm,” she replied. She steadied her feet and gave a smirk, “There is the option for a race… if you’re game.”

_Bravo Six, two Hinds closing fast on your position. You gotta get out sight now!_

“Looks like it is one,” MacTavish muttered and leapt down.

Nicolette followed, allowing for more time until she caught up with MacTavish. She bounced on the balls of her feet as she rappelled all the way down. She couldn’t dispel that she had been watched and it was an antsy feeling that she didn’t want to carry now that she was actually inside the facility.

****

_Captain Price, we’re sending your team the abort codes you’ll need to auto-destruct the missiles in flight. You have fifteen minutes before those missiles reach the eastern seaboard, over._

“Copy that,” Price responded as he checked his corners. He glanced over at Griggs and then MacTavish. The last person he looked at was Nicolette and she returned his gaze with a clear one.

He was surprised she read him in at all about what she needed to do and it only fueled his positive opinion of her. Her actions thus far while indicative of someone who knew what it meant being part of the squad were confirmations that she wasn’t another spook with their own objective in mind. She didn’t have to help MacTavish when she did and she could have made life hell after being placed with them. The fact that she could fight and was good at it was a big plus in his book and still had him have a hard time believing that she was just an analyst for the spooks.

Looking at her he gave a silent query and her silent response was favorable. He would trust her on this one. He gave the signal to move out and the group followed through the darkened tunnels lit only by red light. They had only fifteen minutes to get there and there was bound to be resistance along the way. He noticed that she was fiddling with that wrist thing of hers and raised a brow until she showed him the countdown. He murmured, “Good work Nico.”

They met resistance from those that made it past the teams in charge of taking out security. Nicolette followed behind Price and was covered by MacTavish. It was an unusual formation but she wasn’t going to argue. Now that they were in, she had to keep her eye out for what she needed. The big relief was that she had taken the time to study the facility’s layout before they embarked on this mission.

_You just have to remember everything huh, Nicky? No wonder you’re the brains and I’m the brawn._

_And the brains learn the brawn, Kyle. If only you could see me now._

Nicolette took cover as soon as the first shots rang out from the odd corner of the hall they were going to head down. They had to clear the rooms and she took care to look around quickly even though she saw nothing but barracks. She knew where she was going to break off at but she also had the objective of collecting anything useful.

Peering around the corner, she could make out multiple hostiles aiming down and firing. She ducked when a few bullets came her way and was facing MacTavish as he returned fire and took out two of them before he had to duck and reload. She took the opportunity to move around the corner and fire at what she could see and he couldn’t and took them out. A grenade landed near her foot and she made to kick it back in the direction it had come from.

It exploded a few seconds later and MacTavish asked in a heated tone, “You trying to blow your foot off?”

“More like blow theirs off,” she retorted with some heat but not a whole lot. She looked back around and fired at what appeared to be one of the hostiles trying to escape or reach for something. She didn’t give him a chance and popped a round in him.

“Let’s move,” Price signaled, well aware that his newest member and spook tagalong had this whole bickering thing going on. He didn’t care as long as they did their jobs and they did it fairly well so no complaints.

They made it to another part of the facility full of crates, appearing to be a storage area of some sort. Again there was resistance and it seemed like an endless barrage of fire. They had to split up much to MacTavish’s chagrin in order to cover all sides and take out enemy hostiles. The fact that he could still hear the pops from Nicolette’s rifle said that she was doing all right and not doing anything remotely stupid.

_We’re running out of time._

_We have a little over ten minutes, Griggs. Plenty of time._

MacTavish had no idea how she could say that they had plenty of time considering that they had a deadline to abort nuclear missiles heading for the American coast. Then again the way she said it, it was geared to keeping them calm and on task. It sounded redundant since they were trained for this but occasionally such a reminder was needed.

_You sure about that Nico?_

_The main problems will be the blind corner halls. They loop._

_Stay sharp then._

_Copy._

They continued until make their way forward out of the area and into the corridors. Something began to bellow over the loudspeakers in Russian. MacTavish heard Nicolette swear under her breath and could guess that it was something wasn’t going to end well. She confirmed it when she replied to Griggs’ query about what was going on, “They started a countdown.”

Price ended up growling, “Zakhaev’s going to launch the remaining missiles. Keep moving!”

“Nine minutes thirty,” Nicolette reported on the time they had left.

They had to pick up the pace. MacTavish took point and started shooting what he saw. It was a bit reckless but they were working on a clock here. They didn’t expect them to move like that and it gave them the advantage in terms of mowing down hostiles. It also helped to use the walls and certain piping to make a statement.

They had to stop when Griggs almost got hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the wall. He dropped while Nicolette returned fire and ducked. He was fine and was up and ready to return fire. He managed to get out, “Damn. Wish you did enlist, Nico.”

“Then Santana would be pissed,” she muttered. “He so hates competition.”

It was funny and certainly pulled focus. It also allowed Nicolette to look around and see where they were. She could make out the door to launch control and she saw the other halls. This was it. She moved a bit away and fired at the hostiles to clear a path and motioned for them to go. This was really going to be shitty on all levels.

They had to get out of there before the heat of the remaining missiles incinerated them. This was going to be the fastest sprint she ever did. She waited until the others started going through and then she made her move. “Good luck,” she whispered.

MacTavish knew something was wrong once they sealed the door behind them. He looked around and noticed they were one short. “Where’s Nico?”

Price looked at him for a moment before continuing towards the launch room doors. He said, “Doing what she has to do.”

MacTavish blinked at that and heard the rumble. So she was actually gone now and there was nothing he could do about it. Earlier someone could have pointed out that he had wanted her gone but… It just sucked.

“Gaz, we’re in position. Open the outer door to launch control,” Price said to Gaz’s query. He glanced at MacTavish who seemed to be getting a grip on himself and then at the door. _You better get out nice and clean Muppet or I’ll bust your ass when we get to Credenhill._


	15. Chapter 15

Nicolette heard the door close with finality. Now she was on her own. She could only imagine what her escort was going to do… and he just got to the stage where he sort of liked her. This was the part of the job she hated; contacts and assets being left out in the cold when it got too hot to stick around. Granted it wasn’t like that but it certainly felt that way.

When she had been ‘promoted’ to field agent, she categorically refused to abandon a teammate to get information to home base. It was a training exercise and they did manage to get the info back to base but she knew she had failed. They thought that because she was a product of the foster care system, no parents worth speaking of, older brother being in trouble for juvenile things, her ability to compartmentalize and excellent memory, competitive nature… the makings of a good field agent.

She thought she was done for in the training when she went back to her cubicle. Apparently she was wrong. A few days later she got a call and met with her handler. He said she was the type of person that he needed. He sent her on a field op and then after that she ended up on the path that led her to this. _You have a certain quality about you and we want that… yeah right._

She had to get out. What she needed was a level below. It was not on the official plans that Price would have received. In fact most people didn’t know that it existed. Like that was anything better. She ran through and came across stragglers. She could feel the heat rise. It was going to get hot in there real fast.

Turning down a corner, she ran, heading towards what was obviously a dead end. She had hostiles firing at her but their shots were wide. She found what she was looking for and aimed with her rifle. The shot hit its mark and the grate fell open. She ran and dropped into the hole it created and felt herself fall.

Her body hit a slope and she began to slide downwards. It was fast going and she tried to use her legs to slow herself down. It was a narrow tunnel and she brought her arms across her chest but that didn’t stop a piece of grating from snagging on her arm and leaving a nice gash. There was nothing to do about it until she hit the bottom and she did that coming out of the chute like it was a slide and collided with a bunch of shelves or something like it.

_You have what we are looking for. We are looking for someone who can do the job but still has that moral compass._

_I always take care of my own…_

Nicolette slowly opened her eyes and looked up to find herself looking up at the ceiling of the room she had landed in. Grimacing, she sat herself up and looked over her person. The gash on her right arm was nasty looking but it looked worse than what it really was. It would be dealt with later. Right now she needed to know if she could walk or not and testing her limbs revealed that.

Getting to her feet, she checked her watch and noted the time that had passed. She hoped that they were able to get into launch control or something. Not hesitating she tapped onto the ear piece that was in her ear and said, “SPC2 this is S64. I’m in the building. Proceeding for retrieval.”

_Copy that S64. Module should be in the adjacent room. Signal is transmitting._

Nicolette looked at her wrist. The clock had been minimized and revealed the information on the transmission signal. She replied, “Copy that. Receiving now. Sit-rep on the missiles?”

_Proceeding as planned. Continue your mission._

She had to roll her eyes at that. They wanted her because of her moral compass but still they wanted her to act like a hard ass at times. It was that fine line balance thing she supposed. It was the part and parcel of being a spy and as she said to her handler, it sucked. She did have to marvel that she was given a lot of leeway in terms of her behavior. She had manners but wasn’t formal as was expected but she knew how to act with her superiors.

She followed the signal to find the module while she thought about Price, Griggs and MacTavish. She seriously hoped that they were okay and that they were able to make it into launch control. They had the codes. It was just a matter of getting in. She gave a kiss to her thumb and double tapped to her forehead while whispering the prayer she had learned from the woman who blessed her. It was highly unusual that she would do it twice on a mission. Once before the start of a mission was the norm and it had been more or less good luck since.

She wasn’t inclined to be superstitious but she believed in not tempting fate and she did believe that someone upstairs was watching out for people. And she just had a gut feeling that they were going to need it. Ever since that weird feeling she got about being watched, she felt that a little extra was needed and she didn’t waste time giving it now. _You be careful Price. Somehow I get the feeling that there will be more to this._

She managed to find where the module had been placed and was surprised that it was able to send a signal at all considering that they were deep in the underground. Then again it was plugged into the missile control network and the signal could have been piggybacked onto the line and towards whoever was to receive it. She pulled out a penlight and began to look at it, “SPC2, located module. Preparing for extraction.”

_Roger that S64. Commence upload._

Nicolette pulled out her computer pad and a cord and connected it. She had to send the information but also retrieve it. More or less a precaution since if the unit was damaged, it was on the ‘cloud’. It was a new protocol with data uploads aside from destruction proof thumb drives designed like flight data recorders. The latest thing in technology, as it was called.

The hook up was successful and she began uploading it onto the secure network. She monitored it while taking a peek at what she was uploading. It was basic information on the sites and Intel supplied by whoever the operative was; pretty much what Jensen filled her in on. It was how she made her conclusions apart from the research field trips and the like.

Something beeped and she took a closer look. It was not of what she assumed was standard information. She did a scan of the programming and her eyebrow shot up. It was a secondary signal that was transmitted to here from somewhere else. It was strange but it was like it was coded for her to find it or something since it was hidden within the original data stream. It would have taken an experienced eye to find it.

Having no time to analyze it completely, she uploaded the signal program code to her pad under a ghost file she would have access to. It was one of the things that Jensen liked using her for when it required she access computers that were Company and non-Company computers. _And I am known for my expertise in the politico-socio-econ arena. Damn a good college education._

She finished up loading and the record of the download from the module was erased. She would have no copy except from what was on the module itself. It was a simple matter of disconnecting everything and slipping it into her pack along with her computer. It was quick work to do since the next part was going to be difficult and that was getting out since there were stragglers and probably reinforcements coming. It was just another day in the office so to speak and she just hoped that she wasn’t the only one on her side that walked away.

As she was looking through the room and making sure everything was out, she came across something that caught her eye. It would have been easy to miss but she found the hiding place fairly easily and it had her wondering who the hell was allowed down there. She opened the false wall to find that it had been a quick fill in job and made to blend in with the rest of the wall. No one would have noticed it unless they knew where to look. What she found in there was something that had her frown in a concerned way.

It was a thumb drive and because it was hidden, Nicolette had her suspicions that something else was going on here. She examined it and saw that it had the seal of Shadow Protocol on the backside. Her throat convulsed in a swallow as she started thinking about the implications of this and looked around as if there would be someone to explain what was going on. She did know one thing, she couldn’t just hand it over like the module.

It was standard procedure to hand it over since it was to Jensen and he was the one that recruited her and brought her in. Yet she was wary about it. Call it a gut feeling but if Jensen didn’t know about its existence then… Maybe it was stupid but she wanted to find out more about what was on it and she wasn’t going to bring the entire organization into trouble if something was going on. Plus if there was something like treason going on, she wanted to be sure and have concrete proof before accusing anyone.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard rumbling from above. _Time to go._ She did the only logical thing and tucked the drive into a safe place she knew wouldn’t be compromised and gathered the last of the materials and said, “SPC2, target extracted. Preparing for secure.”

_Roger that S64. Confirming exfil._

Nicolette went towards the only way out, the door that could only be open from the other side with a key or from this side by the dead bolt. It was why she had to make it in through the back. She unlocked the door and peered around to make sure that she was clear to make her move. She gave a wry smile as she pulled a grenade she had snaked from MacTavish earlier. If there was one thing she was grateful for, it was the fact that the man stuck close by. Plus she had no idea how to prep a grenade but she could launch one. “C2, securing site,” she said as she cooked the grenade before shutting the door.

_Confirmed._

Nicolette was already running down the halls when it exploded. If what was going on in control didn’t bring reinforcements, then that bang would. _Definitely gonna have to thank Soap for the grenade._

Running she tapped her earpiece and said, “ _Bol'shaya ptitsa_. Do you copy?”

“Da,” came the familiar tones of Nikolai. “I was wondering if you would give a call.”

“Well considering that it was last minute…”

“Nen,” Nikolai said, cutting her off, indicating that it was no trouble at all. “I am happy to help little Nico.”

“Is transport ready?”

“Da. I have a Little Bird standing by at the location you gave me. Waiting for you.”

Nicolette rounded a corner and was met with a barrage of fire. Great the reinforcements were there. She replied, “Standby on transport. Taking heavy fire bol'shaya ptitsa.”

“It’ll be there. Just get to the LZ, little Nico. Out.”

Nicolette frowned as she returned fire while advancing. It was peculiar to hear that. She had asked Nikolai if he had someone who was good with exfils and he said he knew someone and she arranged for the pickup out. She assumed that he was going to contact someone from the Loyalists, a bad thing to do as a spy, but she trusted Nikolai’s judgment. Besides she was more a Loyalist with nationalist leanings… if she was Russian… and Kamarov wouldn’t have a problem giving her a hand but she was being a good diplomat and going through people that had those connections where she had none. It was how the game was played.

There wasn’t time to think about it since she was taking fire and it was from the reinforcements that had come to take out the joint task force. She cued in her radio in receive mode only to hear what was going on with Bravo Team and heard that reinforcements were coming in. She heard Price giving orders about getting out and it seemed that they were meeting heavy resistance… much like she was. This was going to be the shits.

There were the sounds of Russian voices shouting. She could make out that they were looking for the team and for whoever was down here. That was just going to be perfect. The time had to come for some avoidance if she could. It was just a matter of figuring out what to do about it. She didn’t have a whole lot of time but plenty considering now that she didn’t have to worry about the missiles; the abort codes had been uploaded in the nick of time.

The heavy fire continued and it looked like she was going to get pinned down unless she did something. Returning fire she looked for an exit while she heard the radio calls about heavy fire and trying to get out. This was bad on all sides. Finally she found something and knew she was going to have to create a major distraction. _God I wish I had some of your C4 Soap._

It was her luck that a grenade was tossed her way. She grabbed it and threw it back. The explosion bought her some time to get to where she needed to go. She pointed her rifle upwards and fired. The grating popped open and with a well-timed leap, she grabbed the edges and hauled herself up. She wasn’t completely safe since they were firing upwards and they could pursue her.

“Let’s get together, have a few laughs,” Nicolette mocked as she crawled through the shafts. “Being a damn hamster or rat.”

The crawl was slow but she had to make up time. She called, “Bol'shaya ptitsa, still there?”

“Da. Transport still there. They haven’t noticed us yet.”

Nicolette blinked at that as she replied, “Hopefully it stays that way. If it gets hot, liftoff. That’s an order.”

“Da. Better hurry.”

“I’m…”

Something rumbled and the grating she was one creaked. A large hole appeared underneath and what she was on gave away. For the second time she fell down a hole. It was either a lucky day or a very bad day that went from bad to worse.

_Nico, do you copy? Nico?_

Nicolette blinked as she heard Nikolai’s voice in her radio. She grimaced slightly as she lifted her head slowly to look around. It looked like one of Zakhaev’s men thought to get her out by firing an RPG. It made the hole that was needed but it ended up burying them. There were some men that were wounded and weren’t interested in shooting her. They had their own problems as she moved and ended up rolling down.

Standing up she looked around and gave a slight grimace and found that the shallow cut she had sustained earlier was opened and it looked a little deeper. That was just _perfect_. She couldn’t worry about it now since she looked around and found that she had been crawling upwards for the past ten minutes or so and she was actually not that far from where she needed to go. It just sucked that she was bleeding at that moment and had about a dozen sore spots on her body. The good news was that she could walk.

_Nico?_

Nicolette pressed her finger to her earpiece and replied, “I’m here Nikolai.”

_Are you okay? There was an explosion…_

“Are you here?”

_Da. Did you think I would hand this off to just about anyone?_

“I guess not,” Nicolette replied as she picked up her weapon and started walking towards the door. She rotated her hip since it was sore but she could still walk. She was a mess. “I’m coming out.”

_Da. I’m waiting._

Nicolette gave a slight smile. In truth she was surprised that the Russian informative was able to get himself up out of bed to pilot her out. All she asked was for him to find someone. They hadn’t spoken much but it did seem to say a lot in that he liked her. The man certainly laughed at her when she made her claims and it wasn’t to be hurtful but amused and friendly. The man did give her a nickname and it stuck.

_Price would probably kill me if he knew that I pestered his friend._

It was a sure bet but when she had to come up with logistics on the fly, Nikolai was her best bet in terms of getting in contact with Russian personnel. She could have requested extraction from the Company but given the way things were, they might categorical refuse and they would have said to follow her protocols so… She just cut out the middle man.

A click caught her attention and she turned with her gun to find that a gun was pointed at her by one of Zakhaev’s men. His face was covered but the intent was clear. He was going to shoot her if she made the wrong move. She didn’t lower her weapon though since any movement could have this guy shoot her. She had noticed some of Zakhaev’s men had itchy trigger fingers and some of Viktor’s men had been bad and it also showed how they were with women. She almost wanted to shudder at that memory.

Looking at the hostile, she just stared. It wasn’t like she could do anything unless he said something. It was a tense moment as she looked at him. She could feel her heartbeat thud in her chest even though she breathing was mostly controlled. It was like a fierce standoff or one of those gunfights at high noon except it was this.

Suddenly there was a click and Nicolette realized that the hostile was disengaging. He was lowering his weapon while looking at her. He then said, “ _Ptichka volen idti_.”

Nicolette blinked at what he had just said. The voice sounded familiar but it was… She watched as he lowered his weapon and motioned for her to go. She realized that he was risking a lot letting her go and she, being a fool, hesitated.

“Ptichka volen idti,” the man repeated a little more forcefully.

Nicolette nodded and backed towards the door. She was wary about turning her back towards him since he could always shoot her in the back if she did. It was one of those things where you had to be wary and the funny thing was that she trusted MacTavish more than this guy and she had known the Scot for the better part of a few days.

The hostile nodded and went back the way he came, turning his back on her, indicating that he was trusting her not to shoot him in the back. She blinked at that since she was not sure of what to think and turned and jogged towards freedom. It was strange and she couldn’t help but file that away for analysis at a later time. Right now she had to get out.

One more turn had her heading towards the exit… And it was blocked by a bunch of hostiles and they were hostile. One was in her face and jeering at her in Russian, like he was going to detain her. Nicolette rolled her eyes at the crude language that was being used. This was not going to be pretty for them. Her muscles tensed as she waited for the right moment as she lowered her rifle and her expression took on a dangerous one.

When the bastard tried to touch her, she reacted. She grabbed the offending arm with her left and with her other she grabbed her knife and stabbed just under the ribs with a quick thrust. She turned the dying man and used him as a shield when the others open fired at her. She pulled her pistol and used it to take out two more hostiles before gaining enough momentum to use the now dead human shield to propel her lower body up and run along the walls, releasing the dead body.

She landed between two startled hostiles and pulled out her knife and with a lightning quick strike, slashed the jugular on one. The other managed to react and tried to bring up his gun but she gave a back kick to the chest and sent him flying into the fall. She followed through with firing her sidearm without looking at him. Her focus was on the last man blocking her exit and her eyes narrowed.

He was looking at her and his hands were trembling. She could tell he wasn’t sure of exactly what he was to do. That was to her advantage. She spoke in Russian, “You have two options, stand and fight and die or run and die. Either way, the reward is death.” She then called him an uncomplimentary name in Russian.

It was enough to spur the hostile into action. He narrowed his eyes at her and snapped his rifle up. She reacted by throwing her knife with enough force for it to lodge right between the eyes of the hostile. She had ducked to avoid any reactionary gunfire and just watched her knife embed itself into the hostile’s skull.

She hadn’t been lying when she said that she was an analyst and she hadn’t been lying when she said that hand to hand was her best skill set. It was all part and parcel of the training she had received courtesy of Jensen’s insistence as well as what she had learned growing up. What she had learned as a kid as a means of warding off bullies, Jensen polished to make for the kill for survival and it was ingrained to the point that it was summoned like instinct; it was second nature once the danger factor was assessed.

_You are what we need Agent Walker, probably the best we will ever see._

Shaking it off, Nicolette walked forward and grabbed her knife with one hand and with her boot to ground the dead body, she pried her knife loose. There was quite a bit of blood and it sprayed a little, but it was of no consequence as she wiped the blade on her trousers and virtually walked out the door. It was only then that she was able to take a breath.

The Little Bird helicopter was waiting and Nikolai was at the controls waiting by the time she came into view. It was at that time she heard the call for reinforcements from Price and she picked up a lot of noise over the radio. She made it to the chopper saying, “Thanks for the pick-up.”

Nikolai grinned as he cued the chopper, “I said I would be here little Nico.”

There was more chatter on the radio and Nicolette cued it in on her headset. She then looked around and spotted Zakhaev’s troops heading towards the bridge. The Hind was the problem and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going to happen. She tapped Nikolai and pointed, “Nikolai, I need you to get me there.”

“You have orders to deliver the module, no?”

“I know but they’re gonna need some help.”

“What of your cargo?”

Nicolette looked at Nikolai and she removed the module and packet it into a place where it could withstand damage. She did it while saying, “Then you get it out. Get me in and then get out Nikolai.” At the look he was giving her, she said, “They are my team if only for a short time… I always take care of my own.”

Nikolai regarded her for a moment as she stared him in the eye. He nodded, “Da. I will take you. You better be careful or my friend Price will have my head.”

“I will. I know that he’ll already be on my ass for this,” Nicolette replied as she gave a gentle pat to the pilot’s shoulder. She moved towards the back to where the hold for troops was and looked around. She needed a way to get down without resorting to extreme measures. Then Price would really be on her ass. She grinned when she found what she was looking for.

At that moment there was some sudden movement and Nikolai saying, “Hold on, Nico. This is going to be rough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation: bol'shaya ptitsa (Big Bird); Ptichka volen idti (The little bird is free to go.)—This is roughly translated from Google Translate. Please forgive any errors.


	16. Chapter 16

“Oh you gotta be shittin’ me.”

MacTavish could agree with Griggs on that one. The bloody doors were moving slower than a granny on a scooter. It was enough to piss him off. Price was calmer about it as he asked Gaz, “Gaz, can’t you make it open faster?”

_Negative sir. But you can try pulling if it will make you feel better._

MacTavish wanted to laugh at that. It sounded like something Nicolette would say if she had been there. He didn’t though and cast a furtive glance behind him. Why she had to separate, he didn’t know but it just didn’t feel right and if she got caught or killed… He didn’t want to think about it but it was lurking in the back of his mind.

“Cheeky bastard,” Price murmured at Gaz’s comment.

It was the longest minute or so for the bloody door to open. MacTavish was beginning to think that it was better if they did try to pry it open. If only to make up for lost time. He was ready to go when it finally opened and was aiming down his sights at the hostiles that were left to guard and die the launch control.

_We got eight minutes left._

The gunfire was fierce as he took point with Griggs in tow and Price brought up the rear. The bullets were flying and sending chunks of wall careening in all directions. MacTavish took cover as he advanced forward blinking when a chuck of wall hit him square in the face. It stung like hell and forced him to duck back. He shook it off and continued forward and was almost hit by a bullet. He felt it whizz past him and he whirled to take out the hostile. He definitely had started taking for granted her presence on the team.

They pressed forward since now they were down to seven minutes and thirty plus seconds. MacTavish took point while Price called in for status update, “Team Three, what’s your status, over?”

_Team Three in position at the southeast side of the launch control room. Standing by. Are you at the far wall over?_

“Affirmative. Preparing to breach.”

MacTavish knew his job was coming up. He had the explosives in his hand and ready to plant by the time Price ordered him to plant them. He murmured to himself, “Ka-boom,” in the same manner Nicolette did as the wall gave way and he picked up his rifle and pressed forward on Price’s say so.

The room was filled with enemy hostiles but they managed to clear the room and it was confirmed when Griggs shouted, “Clear!”

“Soap, enter the codes! We’ll watch for enemy reinforcements,” Price called.

It was a sign of trust and respect that Price told MacTavish to enter the codes. Plus the captain didn’t have a problem using his call sign. There wasn’t time to dwell on it since he had a job to do and MacTavish rushed over to the controls to enter the codes and almost wanted to curse. The bloody thing was in Russian and he wasn’t fluent in it. Still somehow he managed to upload them. “Codes uploaded sir.”

_Stand by for confirmation._

_Standby… standby…_

It was nerve wracking waiting for the confirmation. This wasn’t a mortar round but a nuclear warhead they were talking about. That kind of thing was something you didn’t fuck around with. MacTavish looked at Price and Griggs as they waited along with him.

_Bravo Six, all warheads have been confirmed destroyed in flight. We got a ton of debris, but most of it’s landing in the ocean._

It was a relief but not for long as a Marine pointed out, “Sir, check the security feed. It’s Zakhaev. He’s taking off!”

_Captain Price, this is Gaz at the security station. They came in by trucks. I’m thinking we can all use them to get the hell out of here. I’m sending you the coordinates to the vehicle depot._

“Roger that. We’ll meet you at the vehicle depot! Out!” Price looked at the group and shouted for them to follow him. He glanced around to make sure people were moving. _You better be outta here Nico like you said._

_It’ll be cakewalk on my end. You have the hard part._

That was what she had said when she filled him in on what she needed to do. Price had pointed out the extraction plan to her and she had her radio. She would know where to go but he wasn’t going to count on it. He just hoped the Muppet would find her own way out. He hated to leave a man behind even if it wasn’t official.

_All teams, this is Command. Recommend you exfil from the area immediately. Large numbers of hostile forces are converging on your position. Get outta there now._

MacTavish followed Griggs and Price towards the vehicle depot. As Command said, they were greeted by enemy hostiles and they weren’t there to be the welcome wagon. He brought his weapon up and commenced with firing. Moving forward, enemy fire hit the piping and steam started coming out along with some flames. He shook his head and the funny attempt at his accent came to mind. “Some things don’t react too well to bullets. I sure as hell don’t,” he muttered to himself.

A grenade went off and debris hit him and Griggs. He felt something hit his upper arm and it hurt like hell. Looking, it was a small piece of shrapnel from the wall that the grenade took out. That was just bloody perfect. Looking at Griggs, the man was sporting cuts to his face from the debris. Griggs asked, “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” MacTavish replied as he went back to firing at hostile forces. He managed to advance forward and take cover in a side tunnel that was a dead end and just in the nick of time. Another Russian bastard had swung his gun around the corner and started firing.

 MacTavish looked up at the ceiling and made a face while the bastard was firing. He looked around to make sure that his arse wasn’t flapping in the breeze and then peered around the corner. He aimed for when the bastard peered around the corner and took the shot, taking him out. _Down you son of a bitch._

_This is Gaz, We’re takin’ some fire here at the vehicle depot. Where the hell are you guys?_

“We’re coming up the lift. Standby.”

There was a boom and the lift rattled a little bit. All three men looked at each other. It had come from below. Being a demolitions specialist apart from sniper training, MacTavish learned to differentiate between types of explosions. He knew that was from an RPG. The thing was who would fire an RPG underground like that? The only reason would be… He looked sharply at Price.

Price caught the look and said, “Sounds like Nico is having fun.”

“Girl knows how to party,” Griggs muttered in a pleased tone.

MacTavish wasn’t too sure about that. Then again he figured she was crazy enough to do that. She was crazy enough to run in the middle of heavy fire and launch herself over the edge of a building to take out the source. Still he couldn’t help but worry and curse to himself about that.

“You know sir, I wouldn’t mind getting a shot at Zakhaev,” Griggs muttered.

“Yeah well get in line mate. If he doesn’t find us first,” Price replied as he looked at his newest recruit. Whatever thoughts he had were not evident as he led them out of the lift and towards the vehicle depot.

****

_At least the world didn’t end. Hit it._

They certainly hit it and the terrain was terrible. MacTavish steadied himself in the truck as it rolled down the mountainside towards the highway. The primary exfil site was compromised so they had to hightail it in the trucks to the secondary beyond the bridge and between them and the LZ was a substantial amount of hostile forces.

“Somehow I get the feeling Nico would say this is fun,” Griggs commented as he held on to take position should they encounter hostiles.

MacTavish got the feeling too. She would be grinning and saying something like it was one big road trip or something equally ridiculous. “Something like that or like it’s a road trip,” he replied.

Griggs couldn’t help but grin and replied, “But she would take it like a Marine.”

It was clear to MacTavish that Griggs liked Nicolette and found it to not be to his liking but like she said before, it wasn’t his damn business. His business was to keep an eye on what was in front of him and behind him and all over the place and that meant keeping an eye out for enemy air craft or vehicles. It didn’t help that in between that, they had to watch out for civilians on the highway. It wasn’t like Zakhaev’s men would care.

“Hang on,” Griggs called as they bounded from mountainside to the pavement of the highway. “Enemy trucks six o’clock!”

MacTavish had his rifle up and peering down the scope. Sniping while in a moving vehicle was not as easy as it seemed even with training. What he could do exceptional when steady on the ground, took a lot more effort to do in a moving vehicle. It was especially hard when the enemy kept trying to ram you off the road in order to take you out.

One hard jolt knocked MacTavish back and the back of his head hit the side and he saw stars. He couldn’t stay down for long since the enemy was firing from the truck ramming them and he was in the line of fire. Blinking and trying to shake the disorientation, he clambered to his knees and looked for a good position to take out hostiles.

“Cover the rear! We’re getting boxed in!”

“Roger that,” MacTavish called and moved to fire out the back. He had seen Griggs covering from the side so things were looking good there. He commenced firing and managed to hit the driver of the truck behind him.

The truck started to swerve out of control and MacTavish took to firing at the hostiles that were trying to fire while the vehicle was serving. In the end the swerving truck took out the truck still ramming them and they crashed into the wall of the tunnel they were going through. It was no moment to cheer since there was another truck right behind that and they were coming with increased speed.

“Hostile with an RPG. Take him down!”

MacTavish swerved his weapon to take aim. Their truck was swerving too much to avoid civilians while trying to increase their speed. It was making it difficult to take the guy down. He kept trying but missed. He did end up hitting a couple of others but if he didn’t get the hostile with the RPG… The next shot hit its mark and allowed him to focus on trying to take out the truck.

“We’ve got more company! Troop truck closing fast!”

MacTavish turned his attention to that truck and fired. It was taken out with him and Griggs firing along with the maneuvers their truck was pulling. There was also some help from their side with birds in the air. Every little bit helped in this case. He focused on another truck that had an RPG gunman on there and took him out.

A tanker ended up overturning and they barely escaped the bloody thing. MacTavish could feel the heat from it as they barreled past. It took out the truck he had been working on so there was an upside there. Their troubles though were just about to begin.

“Hind, six o’clock high!”

MacTavish looked up automatically as Gaz called out the hostile in the air. _Oh that is just bloody terrific._ He looked around and found an RPG and lifted it up. He looked around for his target and took aim.

“Take out that Hind!”

“I’m bloody trying,” MacTavish replied as he took aim and fired. The first shot missed and he gritted his teeth and took aim again. This time he hit it just as it fired at them.

The upside was that they had gone into a tunnel but the debris from the impact hit. It made things difficult to see as the truck swerved along the path it was taking. The side had a view and that was where MacTavish spotted the Hind coming in.

“Hind at nine o’clock!”

“As if I didn’t know that already.” MacTavish was well aware that he was behaving like he had been the past couple of days with Nicolette. It didn’t seem to matter since the heat of the moment was racing through and if that Hind wasn’t taken out then they were in RDS, ‘really deep shite’, so he was trying hard not to miss.

MacTavish could make out the other trucks firing on the Hind and they were missing just as bad. It didn’t help that the Hind was now in line of sight to fire at them. The truck lurched forward to gain speed while trying not to hit civilian vehicles but it was unavoidable at times just like the Hind’s fire hitting the vehicles that happened to get in the way. He reloaded the RPG and took aim and waited for his shot.

They had some relief when they went into the tunnel but he was ready when they came out and Gaz shouted, “Hind twelve o’clock!”

The bloody shot went wide but they were out of RPGs. MacTavish picked up his rifle and was prepared to fire when Price called, “The Hind’s buggered off!”

At first they thought the bastard had run out of ammo. MacTavish wasn’t sure and neither was Price. It was evident when Griggs shouted, “Oh shit! He’s about to take out the bridge!”

MacTavish aimed his gun upwards and tried firing at the pilot of the Hind. He might get lucky and hit the bastard. Gaz was shouting something and then MacTavish heard the squealing of tires and he was falling out of the vehicle. He hit hard and pain shot up through his body. He came too and looked around trying to clear his head. He heard Price saying something about the bridge not holding and started moving away just as the truck he was in fell.

“It’s about to collapse! Get your ass outta there!”

MacTavish started to run the moment he heard Griggs’ voice. He was still disoriented but he had enough of his wits about him to follow Griggs and get off that part of the bridge. He stumbled a couple of times before his head cleared enough to allow him to sprint forward and follow Price up the broken pieces of concrete.

“Baseplate, this is Bravo Five, we are under heavy attack at the highway bridge at map grid 244352! Request helicopter gunship support over!”

_Working on it Bravo Five. Loyalist forces in the area may be able to assist but we cannot confirm at this time. Baseplate out._

MacTavish took up a cover position as a truck pulled up with hostiles and commenced firing. His head was buzzing from the impact and he was frustrated that they didn’t have air support. He just fired at any enemy target that was in his sights. He wasn’t sure how much ammo he had left but he had to make each shot count before he went to his sidearm. He rolled his eyes at the thought of having to use it but Gaz did check it out and said it was good to go while laughing at the fact that it looked like crap and said something that it might be the thing that saved him.

“Useless wanker,” Gaz cried out in frustration.

“Gaz! Get me a sitrep on those helicopters!”

MacTavish ducked and rubbed his head. It was aching like crazy and he had to clear it before he did something that would get himself killed. He blinked and took deep breaths until the pain dull enough and then popped out of his cover to return fire. One of their guys got hit and he took out the hostile that he saw shooting. There were a lot of them now and there was another option left. Looking at his belt he took stock of his grenades and his ammo. As he inventoried, he noted that one was missing. “What the bloody hell?”

There was no time to think about that and pulled the pin on one of his grenades and launched it. He followed through with a few more volleys of grenades. The explosions and the screams that followed along with his guys’ gunfire told him that it was helping to some degree. Now that he was out, he had to resort to his gun and brought it back up.

_Bravo Team, this is Sgt. Kamarov. I understand you and your men could use some help._

“It’s bloody good to hear from you mate!” There was relief in Gaz’ voice as he acknowledged Kamarov for his offer of assistance.

_Standby, we are almost there. ETA three minutes. Kamarov out._

_Bravo Team this is S64 also en route._

“Please tell me that’s the Calvary,” Griggs said.

“Copy that S64. We can use any help you can give,” Gaz replied, not sure who the hell it was even though the voice sounded familiar to him. “ETA?”

_Two minutes, S64 out._

MacTavish had been too busy firing to hear the transmission. All he knew was that there was air support on the way. He kept up his barrage of fire as he worked to hold of Zakhaev’s men. He could hold out for that long.

“Tanker’s about to blow! Move!”

MacTavish found himself roughly shoved to his feet and pushed to get clear of the tanker. His head was starting to ache again but he fought it off. An exploding tanker meant that if he was caught in the crossfire, then he was literally toast. He started running when the explosion occurred and he felt searing pain on his body as he flew through the air and landed hard. He blacked out from it all.

The sound of fire didn’t cease and MacTavish felt himself force his eyes to open. Everything was bleary and the throbbing in his head was worse. He did manage to make out the shape of Griggs looking down at him. He must have been saying something but his brain was too clouded to process actual words but he could process what he was seeing. He then felt a sudden pain in his right shoulder and felt his body being dragged across the ground. Looking up, he saw that it was Griggs pulling him out and he was saying something about being sorry that he was grabbing his injured shoulder or something and he was firing his pistol at someone.

It was like watching everything underwater as he saw Griggs release him and fire his weapon. It took a split second longer than usual to process the fact that the Marine had gotten hit with a bullet to the head. _Was it like that when the brat shot himself in front of you?_ He watched as the Marine went down and become a lifeless form.

Blinking hard, MacTavish looked around, his head still a mess of cobwebs, and saw Price. The Captain was by a vehicle and it looked like he was just as badly injured. It slowly began to dawn on MacTavish that he was probably going to die on that bridge. At that moment though, he vision cleared enough as he looked toward the end of the bridge.

He could see the Hind in the air but it was the three on the ground that caught his attention. Two were lackeys but the one in the middle was unmistakably Zakhaev himself. MacTavish recognized him from the photos supplied during debrief. The three of them walked right up. Zakhaev though was cold and relentless as he walked up to where Gaz was groaning from pain and trying to get up.

It is different when someone pulls the trigger and executes someone you had come to respect. It was like watching a member of your family die. MacTavish watched as Zakhaev executed Gaz with a single shot to the head and felt his throat choke up. He couldn’t say anything. It was like someone was preventing him from saying anything. It was also an indicator that he was going to die next as they advanced and he took a couple of rapid breaths to wait for the inevitable.

Suddenly the Hind was taken out, distracting Zakhaev and his men. They aimed at the source and commenced firing upon it. He saw a heli start to come into his line of sight when he heard, “Soap!”

Turning his head, he saw Price and he had his M1911 in his hand. MacTavish got his intent when he slid the gun towards him and reached out to grab it. He turned and Zakhaev’s back was to him. He had the shot and he took it. The man was down with a headshot like he did Gaz. The other two he emptied his clip into and they collapsed along with Zakhaev. MacTavish took a breath and collapsed onto his back and groaned, the pain starting to rear its head. He blinked as he saw what looked like a Little Bird helicopter come into view and wondered if that was the thing that took out the Hind.

He saw a person emerge from the side and drop. They roped down until they touched down with a familiar grace. It had him frown as he watched as they unclipped themselves and wave off the Little Bird. _What the bloody hell?_

He blinked as it became clear who it was as they moved to clear the area. What was she doing there? He frowned as she moved to check the bodies and confirmed they were dead before she spotted him. He had never seen anyone so little run so fast in fifty pounds worth of gear.

_Soap? Can you hear me?_

MacTavish felt his eyes being pried open and found her looking down at him. She was asking him a question and he felt like he should answer but he couldn’t. He did respond when she asked him to blink if he understood her and complied. So the crazy Yank knew field medic work too? How was she going to justify that? Crash course in first aid? It was humorous to think of and his lip twitched in a near smile.

“Good to see that you still think I’m funny,” Nicolette was saying a bit clearer now. She turned and started shouting in Russian at Kamarov’s troops.

“You are going to be all right my friend,” another voice was saying before turning to her and asking something in Russian.

MacTavish looked at her and tried to say something. She shushed him, “Not now stupid. Shut up and let us rescue you.”

He felt himself being lifted onto something and turned to look for Price. He blinked blearily at the image of CPR being administered. Was the Captain…? He blearily looked back up and saw Nicolette putting the finishing touches on the rig that would lift him up. She looked at him and said, “You better make it you Scottish bastard or I’ll bring you back so I can kick your ass into the next hell hole.”

She looked like she was going to cry but he wasn’t sure. He slowly blinked though to tell her that he understood. She nodded and signaled that they were ready to go. As he was being lifted though, his hand grasped her wrist and held on tight. He heard a flurry of Russian and she was saying something. The next thing he knew she was on the lift with him holding onto the rope with her free hand while he refused to let go of her other. She was looking at him and said softly and with no malice, “You don’t even like me.” He passed out on the way up.


	17. Chapter 17

_You are going to be all right my friend._

_What kind of a name is Soap? How’d a Muppet like you ever make it past Selection?_

_You don’t even like me._

_I don’t not like you. You’re annoying._

_Oh I won’t but at least I know that I’m less annoying._

_The missiles were coming in. They were going to hit but… The Hind was there firing. The tanker exploded… Griggs was pulling him out._

_He could hear his heart beating. His breaths sounded shallow. His head was pounding…_

_The Russian government released a statement today confirming a series of nuclear missile tests in Central Russia. Although world leaders were quick to denounce the action, Russian officials maintained that the missile tests fell well within established UN protocols…_

_Concussion among various other injuries. Shrapnel… burns… Can’t say if he’ll be all right._

_In other news, the search for a ship lost in the Bering Strait due to a major storm has been called off…_

_Oh he’ll make it…_

The quiet was loud as MacTavish slowly opened his eyes. The light was bright and he frowned and squinted. It was a mistake and his head hurt from the movement. He gave a low grunt and tried to open his eyes wider but couldn’t. He had to make do with squinting; it just hurt too much.

“I win.”

MacTavish frowned as he tried to look in the direction of the voice. His voice croaked, “What?”

Nicolette looked at the bedridden Scot from where she had camped out the last few days despite the repeated attempts of Russian nurses from hell trying to get her to leave. She refused to leave despite the reassurances that Kamarov and others gave her. There was no option to leave in her mind so she stayed. She gave a slight smile and repeated, “I win.”

“Win what?” MacTavish groaned as he blinked to clear his vision.

Nicolette watched him and replied, “I made a bet with that sadist doctor that you would wake up in a few days compared to his saying you’d be out the week. Actually I said it and he wasn’t amused. I think he called me the equivalent of a cheeky bastard in Russian.”

“You would know. You speak it,” MacTavish grumbled as he started to move to try and sit up. It didn’t do wonders for his head.

“You don’t want to be doing that,” Nicolette said as she shifted to get up from her chair. She said nothing as he stubbornly disregarded her warning and continued in his goal of sitting up. She was up the minute she saw trouble and had the bowl ready when he puked. “I warned you,” she said as she gently rubbed circles on his back. “You did suffer a major concussion.”

MacTavish groaned, not liking that he threw up in front of her but willing to accept her help. The queasiness subsided and he leaned back. He glowered when she held a glass of water out to him. “Are you trying to be a nurse now?”

“Nope. I’m an analyst, remember?”

MacTavish snorted as he accepted the glass of water from her. He put a bit in to rinse out his mouth and spat in the bowl before taking a drink to quench his parched throat. He looked at her and said, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied as she moved the bowl out of the way. She turned to look at him and folded her hands in front of her. “Do you require anything else?”

“Don’t be polite you bloody Yank,” MacTavish groused.

“Just trying to be helpful.”

“Well, be helpful by being yourself.” He frowned a little and grimaced. If they had him pumped up with pain killers, he was still feeling the pain. “You don’t need to sound like a school girl even though you look like one.”

“You are on a roll with the compliments,” Nicolette teased, willing to acquiesce to his request. “So I guess that means I annoy you lesser than before?” Her eyes scanned him for any signs that would require a doctor’s care. It was part of the compromise she had made.

“A little,” MacTavish replied as he grimaced. He had put some weight on his right shoulder and he felt the sharp pain shoot through it. He remembered that Griggs had grabbed that shoulder. He looked at it and noticed the thick padding of the bandage. “What the bloody hell?”

“Shrapnel,” Nicolette replied as she sat back down. She looked at her hands and gently rubbed her right wrist. She looked at MacTavish and continued, “From the tanker. In addition to shrapnel on most of your torso and upper body, you had some minor burns and surprisingly one GSW in your side. Your vest kept pressure on it.”

MacTavish listened to her rundown on his injuries while watching her. She had sat back down and had crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knee. He noticed she was rubbing her wrist awhile her gaze went towards the window of his room. He was going to say something when a nurse who looked like she overdid the body building came in with a tray and started barking at Nicolette.

Nicolette was barking back and glaring at the nurse. She had crossed her arms over her chest and looked ready to commit bloody murder. She barked something at the nurse and set herself ready to defend herself until the nurse said something. Nicolette rolled her eyes and surrendered while muttering, “Head Russian nurse from hell.”

MacTavish watched as the nurse took Nicolette’s right arm after she rolled up her shirt sleeve to reveal a bandage with a faint stain of blood on it. It revealed a nasty gash that was scabbing and looked red and angry. The nurse was not too gentle on cleaning it and redressing it. When her back was turned MacTavish saw Nicolette flip her off with her broken finger and couldn’t help but chuckle even though it hurt.

Nicolette was scowling at the path the nurse took and muttered, “Shut up Soap. I’ll be laughing when she comes back for you.”

MacTavish stopped mostly because it was getting to be too much for him. He sobered though when he noticed her wrist. He could make out the distinctive handprint on it and knew what caused it. He didn’t want to talk about that at the moment though it was all connected. He studied her and asked, “Why?”

Nicolette knew what he meant by that. She could easily evade and piss him off but she didn’t want to do that. She replied, “I’m a spy Soap. I was doing what I had to do for the Company.” It sounded hollow to her and she knew it did to MacTavish. Sighing she added, “I had to retrieve some important information that had been left behind. They didn’t want it falling into Russian hands, mainly Zakhaev’s hands. I was to get it and get out and to use you guys to get in and leave it at that.”

“Why did you come back?”

Nicolette looked at MacTavish and he was staring at her like he couldn’t understand. She figured it was to hide other things too but she was tired and not willing to explore that. She frowned though and replied, “I always take care of my own. Thought you would have gotten that by now. I guess I was wrong.” She crossed her arms and looked away as she sat.

MacTavish thought she was looking like a petulant child but he could get where that was coming from. “I understand, I just…” He shrugged with his bad shoulder and winced and hissed.

Nicolette turned to look sharply when she heard the hiss. The look softened but the concern was still lined on her face. She said, “I don’t leave a partner behind… I look after my own. I heard on the radio what was going on and I wanted to help. It just… sucked that I arrived when I did.”

“But you came and I’m guessing you bossed Kamarov’s men around. Not bad for an analyst,” MacTavish replied with a slight smile.

“A better one would have been able to…” Nicolette sighed and put a hand to her head and rubbed it as if in thought. “I guess this is one time someone other than me can walk away,” she muttered to herself, not caring that MacTavish was overhearing her.

“Someone? What about Price?”

Nicolette looked up and shook her head negatively, “I tried to find out but they wouldn’t tell me anything. The only reason I know about you is because you had my wrist in a death grip from exfil to the hospital and even then you refused to let go until I squeezed the tendons in your wrist to get you to release me. I had to do some quick talking to get them to tell me anything short of being my obnoxious self.” She looked at MacTavish and noted the expression that overcame his face. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, lass,” MacTavish replied, letting the ‘lass’ slip out. “I’m sorry about Griggs. He did like you.” It was something to say and it was based on what he observed.

Nicolette looked at MacTavish like he was crazy and replied, “Griggs? He’s my brother’s friend. They went through boot together. He was just being nice to me because I’m Kyle’s little sister and my brother likes to tell stories about his little big sister. There was nothing more to it.” She frowned in a puzzled way, a little amused that the Scot was being a nosy parker. She sighed and played with her ring thinking about whether or not she was going to tell Kyle about it or let him find out through Marine channels.

“Little big sister?”

“Consider that off limits like how you got the name Soap,” Nicolette replied looking at the Scott with a grin, “And that won’t change until you give.”

“Then you’re in for a long wait.”

“I’ve got time.”

“Thought you’d be getting back to your side of the pond.”

Nicolette peered at MacTavish with a peculiar look. It had him feel a little uncomfortable like he may have said the wrong thing. She asked, “Is that what you want?”

MacTavish blinked as he returned her look. “I don’t need a pity party if that’s what you’re asking.”

“You’d never get that from me,” she replied with a firm assurance. “I’m an annoying bloody Yank.”

“Are you staying?”

Nicolette paused to think about what she was going to say. She reflected on what she had received since she had made a certain number of calls and managed to bully information out of what she was certain was an ex-KGB infested hospital. She looked at her hands and then at MacTavish and said, “I had word that we’re being shipped back to Birmingham in a couple of days.” She shrugged her shoulders.

MacTavish took a moment to process what she had just said. She didn’t give a direct answer but it was in what she just said. He looked at her and asked, “We?”

“Did you really think I’d want to stay here?” Nicolette gave a horrified look and added, “Not a chance considering the ex-KGB nurses and doctors with little to no sense of humor.” She added a shudder for emphasis before saying, “Seriously Soap, you need to work on keeping up though it might be just the drugs they got you on.”

“I can keep up,” MacTavish groused, “Saved your arse, didn’t I?”

“Maybe,” she teased, “Can’t over-inflate that Scottish ego of yours.” She grinned at him, “So are you willing to tolerate me a few more days?”

“Do I have to?”

Nicolette laughed at the pout that formed on his face. “Don’t worry. I’m in coach. You’re first class.” She sobered though and adjusted her position in the chair. She was tired and could see MacTavish was getting sleepy too. She would only go to sleep if he did.

“Doesn’t seem right,” MacTavish said as he was adjusting his position. He was starting to feel drowsy again and knew he was going to sleep and fought against it.

Nicolette sensed that his comment had more to do with the fact that he was the only survivor from the bridge than her comment about them being separated. She replied softly in understanding, “It never is but you’re not the only one left.”

MacTavish looked at her and replied a little heated, “They’re all dead Nico. I saw Gaz and the others get shot and Price…” He almost sat up but the pain in his chest had him collapse and he started to feel a little queasy again from the sudden movement.

Nicolette pushed her chair forward and leaned forward to look at MacTavish and replied, “You’ve got me… a friend.”

MacTavish had calmed down enough and took in her expression. She was being serious and he had been an idiot for excluding her. He nodded at her slowly and said, “A friend.”

~0~0~

Said sat back in his seat and looked at Nicolette as she finished her story about Zakhaev. She was looking at her hands as her fingers gently tapped the table. She was deep in thought over something and content just to sit there. He prodded, “Anything else?”

“No.”

“I thought you were going to tell the whole story,” Said pointed out. He hoped that by trying to catch her in some sort of fib they could get her discredited or something.

“I am and I will. That was the end of how I met up with Bravo Team and what we did there,” Nicolette replied as she looked up at Said. She looked at the glass of water that had been placed there with a pitcher. She was tempted to reach for it but she was unsure about the contents. She had been through interrogations and was a prisoner before; she was familiar with a few tricks.

Said considered her words and noted her looking at the glass of water. He noticed that she wasn’t reaching out to take it. He reached out and took the glass and took a long pull of the liquid. Perhaps that would gain more of her trust. “What about afterwards?”

“Do you really want to hear about Birmingham and the endless training that we went through?”

“So you did stay with then Sgt. MacTavish…”

“I didn’t stay with him. I was there to train. Big difference Said.”

Said realized that she could keep this up all day. She could argue semantics, play on words… anything that she wanted to and still not give him much of anything. He calmed down and replied, “Fine. So you and the captain were at Birmingham. What about the module?”

“Delivered as ordered,” Nicolette replied.

“And the thumb drive you found. Did you find out what was on it?”

Nicolette looked at Said and with a straight face she replied, “It was nothing more than some saved Russian porn. The operative stationed there was very bored and out of his mind.” She looked at Said with an expression that almost dared him to question her.

Said looked at her and debated on whether or not she was telling the truth. She just stared back at him with a bland expression and he had a thought if that was a look Captains Price and MacTavish encountered enough time when they went on missions with her. He had her dossier now. The Company managed to get him that much out to this place and he would have time to look at it later.

Nicolette was willing to engage in the stare off until Said got bored or his ass wipe busted in there demanding that she tell them everything and to quit shitting them. The brat was all bark and no bite. Said was another story and she had heard of his reputation from a variety of sources. She folded her hands politely and waited for Said to say the first word. She would give him that since he was the one that wanted to know.

Finally Said spoke, “That was what was on the thumb drive?”

“Yes. As to the module… I didn’t bother with. I turned it over and that was that.”

“And the code you found?”

“Couldn’t break it. Not even when I contacted my handler for info.” Nicolette shrugged her shoulders. Sighing she said, “Any other questions Said?”

“I find it hard to believe that you went back for Bravo Team. You were given clear instructions to deliver the module.”

“I did.”

“Then why did you go back?”

“I always take care of my own, Said,” Nicolette replied as she looked at the interrogator. She sat back in her seat and relaxed a bit as she repeated, “I always take care of my own.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Ask a soldier in the field,” she replied, “Ask someone who had been in a position where they had to put their life in another person’s hands as you put yours. Ask someone who has been alone and needed someone to look after them. Ask someone who knows how to look after and help those who may not be able to.” She looked up at Said with a long and hard look. “Once you figure that part out, the rest follows.”

Said took in her expression. That was most animated she had ever been during the course of this interrogation. He mentally made a note of it since it could become useful but it would only work if they had some leverage against her. If she knew where the renegades, supported by Russia, were, she was the key to finding them but he wanted the full story. He had been asked to make his recommendations based upon what he learned. He found that he had more questions than answers.

“It is the basis for everything that follows… at least on my end and to a certain extent what Price and MacTavish knew as soldiers,” she added.

“I will take that into account.” Said leaned forward and looked at her and asked, “So what about Makarov? How did you get involved with that?”

“It’s all connected Said. Like I said before, you would have to hear the whole story.”

Said sat back and looked at her. She had said that and he realized that he was going to need more than what had just been told. It was getting late though. A glance at his watch told him that it was getting late and while he could continue on into the night, he needed time to digest and go over what he had just received.

Nicolette picked up on it and commented, “You might want to take a break Said. After all I just gave you the rundown on what happened since the day Al-Asad took over from our end. You have what you have on the American side of things.”

Said looked at her with a raised brow. She had been in there for the entire day and there were no clocks in there. Yet she seemed to have a good grasp on time and they really hadn’t stopped. She had to be starving and he wasn’t that cruel. Pope might be but he wasn’t.

“I know you can go on all night but I know you aren’t cruel Said,” Nicolette added with a slight shake to affirm her assertion of the man. “You know I have been in here all day with nothing but water that now I know isn’t drugged guinea pig.”

Said looked at her some more and had to agree, “You’re right in that you have been in here with nothing but water. You must also know that we can keep you in this room indefinitely with nothing but water and occasionally food.”

“But you aren’t that cruel,” Nicolette replied with a knowing look. “If you want someone to break, you try to relate to them. You’ve had quite a number of successes with that technique.”

“You seem to know a lot about me.”

“People talk and we did meet once at an embassy dinner. You probably don’t remember that.”

“You seem pretty sure of yourself.”

“So I have been told. I’ve also been called a Muppet and a cheeky bloody Yank and it hasn’t made much of a difference.” Nicolette sat back in her seat in a slouch. She looked at Said with a pointed look. “So what’s it gonna be?”

Said didn’t say anything and slowly stood up from his seat. He picked up the recorder and tucked it into his pocket and picked up the folder. “I hope you enjoy your stay with us.” He headed towards the door.

“I look forward to it. Anything to set the record straight.”

Said exited the room and stood as the door closed behind him. He looked at Pope who was spitting mad. He could tell he wanted to get in there and start being a hard ass. It looked like it wasn’t going to work that way.

Turning to the guard he said, “Put her in her cell and see that she has a meal.” He started walking away.

“Boss, is that it? Aren’t you going to…” Pope had chased after him and was livid about not being able to try his hand.

“No, Pope. The conventional means won’t work.”

“We’ll make her talk. We have our ways,” Pope insisted.

“No we won’t,” Said replied and he looked at his trainee. “She won’t talk unless she wants to and she will hold out indefinitely until someone listens. She knows that and is willing to do it. Why? It’s all in the story.” He turned and started walking away.

_I always take care of my own._

Said walked away and thought about what had occurred in there. His hand fingered the tape recorder in his pocket and he repeated, “It’s all in the story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed it. Leave any and all reviews if you like and stay tuned for Part II of Scars of Duty, called Outbreak.


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